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While astronauts in space get to do many exciting things, they miss out on ordinary things that we all take for granted--being able to walk on firm ground, hanging out with family and digging into a slice of hot steaming pizza. Though not much can be done about the first two things, there may soon be a solution to the third one, thanks to this cool 3-D pizza printer! About a year ago, NASA offered $125 ,000 to Anjan Contractor, a 3-D technology expert, to build a device that would allow astronauts to make pizza on demand. The mechanical engineer promised that his invention would produce pies in large quantities that looked, tasted and even smelled like pizza made in common ovens. Late last year, the engineer presented a video of his first prototype that begins by creating a single slice of dough that is cooked and printed at the same time. Then comes the tomato "sauce" -- a mix of tomato powder, oil and water and finally, a protein slice that resembles cheese. While the video doesn't show the baking process, the inventor says that once the pizza is printed, it can be ready to be consumed in 7 seconds. While the pie in the video looks delicious enough to attract any pizza lover, Anjan Contractor is far from ready for astronauts. That's because he still has to find a solution to make the food container in the printer last for 30 years. Though that may sound unrealistic, actually it is not. Anjan Contractor believes that the only way that is possible is that the water is removed from all the ingredients and then they are reduced to the powder form. This, as you can imagine, will not be so easy. But, while the printer may not be ready for space, it certainly looks ready enough for people on earth. Hopefully, NASA and Contractor will consider selling it to those not fortunate enough to go to Mars! Why does the author mention the things that astronauts in space cannot do? A To ask us not to take common things for granted. B To show they live a difficult life there. C To show their life is boring in space. D To introduce the topic of the text. Answer: D. To introduce the topic of the text. Who do you think breaks the law in our society? If you believe that only tough guys commit crimes, you may have to think again. Unlike in the movies, we can't divide the world into bad guys and model citizens. _ In the same way that diseases range from the common cold to fatal forms of cancer, crimes vary in degree. For example, smoking in an elevator will inconvenience people, but much less than threatening them with a gun. In addition to breaking the law themselves, people tolerate various levels of crime. Why can we tolerate some crimes? It may be that, by seeing others do something, we accept it more easily. For instance, most people will find it easier to speed on a highway when everybody else is driving over the speed limit. When people celebrate a sports championship, if they see someone breaking store windows, they might start breaking windows themselves or even steal from the store. So the people around us influence how much law-breaking we can tolerate. We must also wonder whether seeing violence on television or reading about it in the newspapers every day makes us tolerate crime more than we should. We become used to seeing blood on the news on television, or in full color in newspapers and magazines. Because we see thousands of dead people on TV, maybe we just try to ignore the situation behind the violence. If so many citizens tolerate violence and crime, or even commit crimes themselves, it may simply be because of the human mind. Our minds may not care about specific laws. Instead, our minds may have a system of values that usually prevents us from hurting other people to improve our own lives. Yet, when it comes to respecting the rights of a mass of anonymous individuals, we might not be so responsible. While most people would not steal a wallet containing $50, they may not mind cheating on taxes, because cheating on taxes does not hurt any one person. It hurts society, but "society" remains an abstract idea that is not as real as a neighbor or a friend's friend. When we realize that so many people have misunderstandings of law-breaking, it is not surprising that so many people tolerate crimes, or even break laws, including me. But how could we improve the level of honesty in our society? Would strict laws help make our society better? Probably not. Honesty will have to come from social pressure: in the family, at school, on the job, each and every one of us can encourage honesty by showing which behavior is unacceptable. And teaching respect should become everyone's responsibility. What does the author think of the people who cheat on taxes? A They take no notice of the human mind. B They break the laws unaccepted in their minds. C They aren't concerned about some particular laws. D They hurt other people to improve their own lives. Answer: C. They aren't concerned about some particular laws. Dog owners now have a little help understanding their furry friends.A new device called Bow-Lingual "translates" dog barks into English, Korean or Japanese.Bow-Lingual Japanese inventors spent much time and money analyzing dog barks.They found that dog noises can be broken down into six different emotions: happiness, sadness, frustration, anger, assertion and desire. Part of the Bow-Lingual device hangs on the dog's collar.The other part is a handle-held unit for the owner.When the dog barks, the unit displays translated phrases. Some people have _ at Bow-Lingual."Who would pay $120 to read a dog's mind?" they ask. But those who have purchased Bow-Lingual praise the device.Pet owner Keiko Egawa, of Japan, says it helps her sympathize with her dog Harry."Before we go to the park, he always says he wants to play," says Egawa, "and after a walk, he always says he is hungry." Bow-Lingual is not yet available in Chinese.So you'd better keep studying Studio Classroom, or soon your dog may know more English than you do! This passage is mainly talking about _ . A Bow-Lingual's inventors B dog barks and their different emotions C talking dogs D a little help for dog owners Answer: D. a little help for dog owners The Oscars ceremony at the 87th Academy Awards took place in Hollywood's 3,300-seat Dolby Theatre in California on Sunday evening(Feb.23, 2015). The night concluded with the biggest award of the evening, Best Picture. After already securing the Best Screenplay and Best Director Award for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman took flight as the winner of the night. Competing with 7 other contenders including another much-predicted winner "Boyhood", the top prize of the night was finally awarded to the film "Birdman". The director of "Birdman" was also awarded the Best Director Oscar by the Academy. In addition, the film took home two other awards for Best Original Screenplay and Cinematography. Starring Michael Keaton, the dark comedy "Birdman" tells the story of a faded Hollywood star, famous for his roles as the "Birdman superhero", who struggles to win the support and confidence to perform in a different character type in a Broadway show. The Academy's Best Leading Actor award went to Eddie Redmayne, for his performance in the film "the Theory of Everything". It was the actor's first nomination and first win. Meanwhile, the Best Leading Actress award went to Julianne Moore who plays a college professor who learns that she is suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Patricia Arquette also won her first Oscar for her supporting actress role in the movie "Boyhood", while J.K. Simmons won the Best Supporting Actor in "Whiplash". Best foreign Language film went to "Ida", while "Crisis Hotline" won the award for Best Documentary Short Subject. According to the passage, who was first nominated and awarded at the Oscars ceremony? A Michael Keaton. B J.K. Simmons. C Patricia Arquette. D Eddie Redmayne . Answer: D. Eddie Redmayne . Community theatre is a theatre that is run by a local district with the efforts of volunteers. They offer many different kinds of productions, such as musical theatre, dance theatre and children's theatre. Usually, performers are amateurs who receive no pay, but at other times professionals get involved, and they are paid. Community theatres of today are a little different from the old "little theatres", as most simply run by colleges and their theatre Community theatres are a great way to get involved with local actors. Now, most theatres that put on shows that will entertain or benefit the community. In the 1880s, "little theatre'' was started in Europe so that poor people could see theatrical productions without having to travel far or pay a lot. In 1910, this idea traveled to the United States. In the early years, community theatres were even funded by the government, but when shows became too political, government funding was stopped. Community theatres of today are a little different from the old "little theatres", as mist simply want to infuse little culture into the lives of the local citizens. In many cases, these theatres are run by colleges and their theatre departments. These productions are often free of charge, or charge very little money to pay for costumes and other incidental expenses. Many also encourage the participation of children and other young people to let them develop theatrical skills, as well as to keep them busy so that they do not do choose to get into trouble. Additionally, for those who desire strongly to become professional actors and to one day get a chance to act in a national theatre production, it is an exciting place to learn and develop theatrical skills. From the passage we know that community theatres can _ . A help young people ,make more money B prevent young people getting into trouble C help young people enter the colleges D encourage young people to become more responsible Answer: B. prevent young people getting into trouble
(NEW YORK)---Scientists have discovered small signs of awareness in some vegetative brain injury patients and have even communicated with one of them---findings that are beneficial to how to assess and care for such people. The new research suggests that standard tests may ignore patients who have some consciousness, and that someday some kind of communication may be possible. In the strongest example, a 29-year-old patient was able to answer yes-or-no questions by picturing specific scenes the doctors asked him to imagine. "We were stunned when this happened," said one study author, Martin Monti of the Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. "I find it really amazing. This was a patient who was believed to be vegetative for five years." Ever since a research paper four years ago described obvious signs of awareness in a vegetative patient, families of patients have been demanding brain scans, said Dr. James Bernat, a spokesman for the American Academy for Neurology. But experts said more study is needed before the specialized brain scans could be used in medical treatment. "It's still a research tool," Bernat said. Experts also pointed out that only a few tested patients showed evidence of awareness. And they said it is not clear what degree of consciousness and mental abilities the signs imply. They also noted that the positive signals appeared only in people with traumatic brain injury---not in patients whose brains had been lacking in oxygen, as can happen when the heart stops. The new study used brain scanning called functional MRI, for 23 patients in a vegetative state and 31 that are minimally conscious. Patients are said to be in a vegetative state if they are tested and found unable to do such things as move on command or follow a moving object with their eyes. Minimally conscious patients show signs of awareness, but they are minimal and discontinuous. The passage mainly deals with _ . Answer: This winter, the air quality over the north China plain was so bad that it was actually off the standard scale. The air pollution reached levels that the World Health Organization describes as dangerous. On Thursday, heavy smog blanketed most of northern and eastern China again. It is reasonable to ask why the air pollution is so bad this winter. Weather conditions and topographic factors have been given as reasons, but, although contributing factors, these are not to blame. The worsening air pollution is linked to an energy mix that relies heavily on coal and to motor vehicle emissions . But despite the astonishing growth of motor vehicles in our cities, it is the burning of coal that is the biggest cause of air pollution. More than half of the country's power plants are located in the eastern region and China's coal consumption has more than doubled in the past decade, reaching 3.8 billion tons last year, accounting for almost half the world's total coal consumption. And with coal occupying nearly 70 percent of the country's primary energy consumption, it has become critical to reduce the use of coal if we are to solve the nation's overall air pollution problem. In the face of the poisonous air recently, one citizen said, "we have nothing but hot air to purify the skies". In fact, the government plans to have 350 billion yuan ($55.67 billion) investment in improving coal-fired facilities and limiting the use of yellow-label cars that do not meet the Euro I emissions standard and so on. However, it would be far more effective to reduce emissions at the source, which means that the biggest challenge currently facing government departments is saying "no" to the country's air polluting offenders. According to the Joint Prevention and Control Plan on Air Pollution in Key Regions released recently by the State Council, the amount of coal the nation consumes is set to rise by 30 percent during the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan. This is not going to let anyone breathe easier. This highlights a key problem when it comes to environmental issues in this country - economic development comes first. The fundamental cause of the worsening air pollution is the idea of economic growth at any cost, which has resulted in ever-worsening pollution. And the priority given to economic growth presents another problem, namely the failure of existing environmental protection policies and regulations to control pollution. For instance, the current weak regulations covering emissions would suggest there has been a significant reduction in emissions when clearly this is not the case. Also those enterprises found breaking the regulations are still far lower than the cost of treating the pollution they produce. This means even if many large-scale enterprises with lagging production capacity fail to meet the requirements for environmental protection, the environmental protection department is incapable of shutting these enterprises down or forcing their relocation. [: _ Z _ X _ X _ K] Dealing with air pollution requires taking action at the local level to reduce vehicle emissions and at the regional level to reduce industrial emissions. But it also requires giving more priority to environmental issues in policymaking. Our hope is that the environmental protection department will be truly capable of saying "no" to pollution, and it will raise standards and effectively enforce them, and that governments at all levels will prioritize quality of life not just economic growth. Why is it a big challenge for the government to say "no" to the air polluting offenders in China? Answer: A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh.2011. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world. There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes. There are also concrete sea walls around much of the Japanese coastline. But these measures proved no match for the powerful earthquake and tsunami. Costas Synolakis ,a tsunami expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said,"Japan is one of those most well-prepared countries on earth in terms of tsunami warning. They had a warning. I think what went wrong is that they had not expected the size of this event." He says there are two reasons for this. Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large earthquake happening off the coast of Japan. The nine point zero magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to have reached as high as thirteen meters in some areas. Costas Synolakis says Japan's concrete sea walls were not built to handle such high waves. Experts say early warning systems will continue to be limited by these facts until earthquakes and tsunamis can be predicted Which of the following statements NOT true ? Answer: Just weeks after a special memorial voyage to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, an Australian billionaire has announced plans to build an exact replica of the Titanic, which is just as similar to the original one as possible. The Titanic replica will make its first voyage from Southampton, England to New York in 2016. The Titanic is a famous ship that sank in 1912. The attractive story of the ocean liner has made millions of people interested in it around the world. It was believed to be an unsinkable ship but it hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage. More than 1,500 people died in the sinking of the Titanic, which at the time was the world's largest and most luxurious ocean liner. When fully built, the Titanic II will be 270 meters (886 feet) long and capable of holding 1,680 passengers. Unlike the original Titanic which was powered by coal-fired boiler and steam engines, the Titanic II will have modern diesel and electric engines. Also unlike the first Titanic, the Titanic II will have more than enough lifeboats to accommodate everyone on board if something should go wrong. When asked whether the new replica would sink, Mr. Palmer replied: "Of course it will sink if you put a hole in it. He also added "It will be designed as a modern ship with all the technology to ensure that doesn't happen." When Mr. Palmer was asked if he expected hisTitanic to be successful, he simply said: "At my age, you don't really worry so much about whether you'll make money or lose money on something, but I believe that it is worth building it." Why is the Titanic replica being built? Answer: Don't go to Kauai. Go to any of the other Hawaiian Islands--Maui, Lanai, the Big Island-- but leave Kauai for us. The weather on Kauai is so unpredictable that sometimes it rains all day--in fact, it's the second-wettest spot on the earth. Yes, there are giant double rainbows all the time, and the sunlight through the clouds is magical. But if you are not interested in these, go somewhere else. You just can't control the nature on Kauai, and who wants to surrender to the nature when you could be at a fine hotel, lying in a comfortable chair next to a swimming pool, with food served upon request? So what if Kauai produces surf champions the wayprefix = st1 /Texasproduces cowboys? Most of its 300 white-sand beaches are unmarked. Unless you connect with the local people, the hidden spots are hard to find. While Hanalei is the most beautiful town you've ever dreamed of, you can forget about discos and clubs. Worse, it doesn't have one single four-star restaurant. What it does have is the original drive-through places where you pass by a rambutan tree, and pick a piece of fruit. Shopping in Kauai? Forget it--unless you are interested in shell necklaces and beautifully carved wood bowls. Kauai is not about pampering. It's about going natural and finding the nature within you. It's a do-it-yourself place that offers walking along the coast, diving and swimming in the Pacific Ocean, and lying on the beach. Don't go to Kauai unless you have a lot of time, because there's only one road, which can be slightly dull. It winds through the beautiful scenery of waterfalls, rivers flowing into the ocean, and taro fields. You have no choice but to look at everything, because the speed limit is 35 m.p.h. If you're not interested in color1, don't bother with Kauai, because that's what you get--red roads, blue oceans, and a hundred different shades of green. It's like diving on land. Many people on Kauai believe that this is Lemuria--a lost island in the Atlantic. Can you imagine? Those Hawaiians, surfers, New Agers, and people who love nature and beauty and want a different quality of life--what do they know, anyway? Forget about it--you're not going to like it. Go somewhere else. Leave Kauai for us. It can be learned from the text that _ . Answer:
Trip1 The Green Mountain Bring your strong shoes for the hiking in a beautiful area of the Green Mountain. You can also find many kinds of wild animals living in this area. Time: May 8--May 14 Tel: 64639818 Adult: $110.00 Child: $55.00 Trip 2 The Heaven Garden This is a beautiful garden with different kinds of flowers. Take your camera and enjoy the wonderful sight here. It is also a good place for fishing. Time: May 20--May 22 Tel: 63986432 Adult: $ 50.00 Child: $ 25.00 Trip 3 The Dungog Valley Put on your warm clothes, and come for a night walk along the Dungog Valley. Many of the plants you will see on this trip can only be seen at night. Time: May 16--May 18 Tel: 63875629 Adult: $ 30.00 Not for children Trip 4 By the sea Wear your sun hat and enjoy wonderful sunshine all the time from morning to evening. You can also take a boat to different places for swimming. Time: May 23--May 27 Tel: 67538293 Adult: $ 80.00 Child: $ 40.00 Mr. and Mrs. Smith want to stay in the Heaven Garden with their five-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter. They need to pay _ for the trip. $150 Dahle is charged with possession of heroin. Prosecution witness Walker, an experienced dog trainer, testified that he was in the airport with a dog trained to detect heroin. As Dahle with a dog trained to detect heroin. As Dahle approached, the dog immediately became alert and pawed and barked frantically at Dahle's briefcase. Dahle managed to run outside and throw his briefcase into the river, from which it could not be recovered. After Walker's experience is established, he is asked to testify as an expert that the dog's reaction told him that Dahle's briefcase contained heroin. Walker's testimony is admissible, as evidence of Dahle's guilt. Mary was a four-year-old girl. She was interested in drawing very much. Mary showed her drawings to everyone. She especially wanted to impress her father, but her dad always seemed to be too busy. One day, Mary wanted to learn to draw houses. She used many hours to draw a really beautiful house with a big garden. Herself, Mom and Dad were looking out of the house. On the _ was the little dog, she wanted to have it so much. "Look, mom!" "Oh, Mary, this is so beautiful! Your best ever!" Mary was very happy and said, "I'll show this to Dad now!" She ran to the door of the room where her dad worked. "Dad!" Mary knocked on the door. "I want you to see the house I made!" "I'm sorry, Mary, I am busy. Can't you show it to someone else?" her dad answered in the room. Mary looked down at her drawing and her tears came down. "I don't want to show it to anyone else. I want to show it to my dad. You're the only dad I have!" Mary's mom felt so heavy in her heart and she got ready for a hug. But before she took another step, the door opened and Mary's dad appeared. "I'm sorry Mary. I was foolish! Come here and we'll look at your drawing!" Daughter and the only dad she had walked into the room to enjoy the child's beautiful work of art. What's the best title of this passage? You're My Only Dad. If you live in the U.S., you're probably used to throwing banana peel into the trash. But people in other countries, including India, have been taking advantages of their nutritional benefits for many years. While the flesh of a banana is soft and sweet, the skin is thick, hard and slightly bitter. To eat the peel, you can fry, bake, or boil it for at least 10 minutes. Also, the riper bananas get, the thinner and sweeter banana peel will become. That's because of a natural plant hormone called ethylene that fruits release as they ripen. Ethylene interacts with the sugars and fiber in the banana skin, changing complex sugars into simple sugars and breaking down pectin, a form of fiber in bananas that keeps them stiff. That's why the older your banana is, the flimsier it feels. The sweet flesh of a medium-sized banana contains great percentages of your daily recommended intake of various nutrients, such as: 12% of your daily fiber, which helps with digestion and may help lower your risk of diabetes 17% of your vitamin C, which is important for your immune system as well as your growth 20% of your vitamin B6, which aids the body's ability to turn food into energy 12% of your potassium, which helps with the development of cells, tissues, and organs throughout the body If you eat the skin along with the flesh, you will get an even bigger increase in these same nutrients. Eating the peel is not only good for your body but also better for the earth. The average American ate 11.4 pounds of bananas in 2014. Since a medium-sized banana weighs about 0.3 pounds, that equates to about 38 bananas per person, or about 12 billion for the whole of the U.S. And since most of us throw away the peel, that also means a lot of organic waste. We can learn from the text that in the U.S. people _ . don't make good use of banana peel People all over the world today are beginning to hear and learn more and more about the problem of pollution.Pollution is caused either by man's release of completely new artificial substances into the environment,or by releasing greatly increased amounts of a natural substance,such as oil from oil tankers into the sea. The whole industrial process which makes many of the goods and machines we need and use in our daily lives,is bound to create a number of waste products which upset the environmental balance,or the ecological balance as is also known.Many of these waste products can be prevented or disposed of.But while more and more new and complex goods are produced,there will be new,dangerous waste to be disposed of,for example,the waste products from nuclear power stations.Many people,therefore,see pollution as only part of a larger and more complex problem,that is,the whole process of industrial production and consumption of goods.Others again see the problem mainly in connection with agriculture,where new methods are helping farmers grow more and more on their land to feed our ever-increasing population.However,the land itself is gradually becoming worn out as it is being used,in some cases,too heavily,and artificial fertilizers can not restore the balance. Whatever its underlying reasons are,there is no doubt that much of the pollution caused could be controlled if only companies,individuals and governments would make more efforts.In the home there is an obvious need to control litter and waste.Food comes wrapped up three or four times in packages that all have to be disposed of;drinks are increasingly sold in bottles or tins which can not be reused.This not only causes a litter problem,but also is a great waste of resources,in terms of glass,metals and paper.Advertising has helped this process by persuading many of us not only to buy things we neither want nor need,but also to throw away much of what we do buy.Pollution and waste combine to be a problem everyone can help to solve by cutting out unnecessary buying,excessive consumption and careless disposal of the products we use in our daily lives. In the writer's view,the more new goods, . the more pollution there will be
Two years ago, the Funk family of suburban Chicago adopted a Chinese baby girl who had been abandoned on a sidewalk near a Yangzhou textile factory. Last year and halfway across the United States, the Ramirez family of suburban Miami adopted a girl who had been abandoned a week later on the same spot. Both families named their daughters Mia. It turns out, a first name and Chinese heritage aren't the only things the three-year-olds have in common. The girls' mothers--Holly Funk and Diana Ramirez--met on a website for parents who had gone through international adoptions. After a flurry of e-mails comparing photographs and biographical details, DNA testing proved the families' suspicions: The girls are probably fraternal twins. "I was in shock," said Ramirez, who lives with her husband Carlos in Pembroke Pines, Florida. "Well, now this is for real." The Internet and Web groups revolving around international orphanages are increasingly being used to link adopted children with biological kin . The site that the Funks and Ramirezes used has a membership of 137 people, with 15 sets of twins and seven sets of siblings whose relationships have been confirmed. At a reunion on Friday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Mia Diamond Funk Mia Hanying Ramirez shyly surveyed each other, then reached for each other's hand. DNA tests established an 85 percent probability that the girls are at least half sisters. Scientists did not have a biological parent to test and reach a greater certainty, but given their ages and physical similarities, experts say it is likely they are fraternal twins. Douglas and Holly Funk hope to take Mia to Miami in October. Both sets of parents say they are committed to staying in touch and often let the twins talk to each other on the phone. Why did the girls' mothers meet on the Internet? To communicate with other people who had adopted children abroad. The American secret service began in 1865. It has many important jobs. One is to stop different types of fraud , such as printing fake money, credit card fraud and computer fraud. The other is to protect the president at all times. The secret service's earliest job was to stop people from making fake money. The secret service agents still have to do that because the criminals are smarter now. They are better at using computers and other expensive equipment. But agents are much smarter. Protecting the president is hard. The most dangerous places are outdoors. Agents can't check every person in the crowd, so they must watch the crowd carefully. And they always follow the president. They're just like the president's shadow. Unluckily, some criminals do want to give the president trouble, or even hurt him. The secret service agents try to find _ and stop them when they want to do something bad. It's a dangerous, but important job. The secret service helps keep the president and the country safe. ,. The most dangerous place to protect the president would be in _ . a public park Peter, a high school student, was pretty busy with school, and he was on the soccer team. High school was hard, because everyone wanted to have nice clothes, hang out, drive cars, and all these cost money. Peter's father was the sort of guy that believed you had to earn whatever you got, so he wasn't just about to hand over lots of money for Peter to use to have fun. So, he had to get a job. During his freshman year summer vacation, his classmate got him a job working on a hay farm. He threw hay up into wagons as the tractor drove around fields, and then they stacked it in the hot barn. It was a hot, lowpaying job. He once worked a few nights a week at a grocery store. He put things on the shelf. It was a lot of lifting and carrying, and his arms were strong from this and the previous job. It was dull and didn't pay much. He took some time off when soccer got serious, but the following summer he tried working at a lumber yard. It was hot outside, but he got a lot of exercise lifting and carrying things like boards and drywall. He also learned a lot about building supplies. It still didn't pay well. From there, he spent a year doing some tutoring for a friend of the family, but that was piecemeal. His first real job came the last year at school, when he fixed registers and worked on computers at a big box store. It was his favorite job yet, but it still didn't pay well. What Peter realized with all of these jobs was that he needed a better paying job! The only way to get that was to get trained or educated. He could go to school and get a 2year degree in an office or technical position. His other choices were going to a 4year college or joining the army. He wasn't sure what he was going to do yet, but he knew he had to do something. Jobs were a lot of work, money was hard to earn, but he liked staying busy and being able to buy things. Peter wanted the most out of life, and that meant education. We can learn from the text that _ . Peter knew what to do for his future In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as terrible as my job in an apple plant . The work was hard; the pay was poor; and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible. First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night. I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time--two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $ 100 a week. But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy were the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor. I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again. How is the text organized? Introduction--Supporting examples--Conclusion Once Effendi had a joke with the Prime Minister . He said that the Minister would die the next day. The next day, the Minister fell to the ground from the horse and really died. When the king learned this, he got angry and sent his men to catch Effendi at once. When Effendi was brought to him, the king shouted angrily, "Effendi, since you knew when my Minister would die, you must know the date of your own death. Say it out, or you'll die today." Effendi looked at the king for a while. Then he answered, "But how can I know? I'll die two days earlier than you." The king was afraid that if he killed Effendi, he himself would die after that. He thought he must keep Effendi alive as long as possible, so he let Effendi go. Which of the following is not true? If the king killed Effendi, he himself would die two days later.
Are you looking for something fun and would you like to help other people in your spare time? Then join us to be a volunteer . We are a non-profit organization . We have volunteer jobs for people of all ages. Anyone, from twelve-year-old children to people in their 80s, can become a volunteer. You can help people in many ways. Schools need help with taking care of children when their parents are working. Hospitals need volunteers to look after children when their parents see a doctor. Animal lovers can help take care of those dogs and cats without homes. There is something for everyone. "As a volunteer, I don't want to get anything. Seeing the children's happy faces, I am happy, too."says Carlos Domingo, an old woman of 62. If everyone helps a bit, we'll have a better world to live in. Interested in?Call us on 1-800-555-5756, or visit our website:www. activol. com. ,. This passage is _ . Answer: ad If your family is like many in the United States, keeping a lot of bottled water at home, it's easy to get a cold one right out of the fridge on your way to a soccer game or activity, right? But all those plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment. In fact, Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, and add 29 billion water bottles a year to the problem. In order to make all these bottles, manufacturers use 17 million barrels of crude oil . That's enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve months. So why don't more people drink water straight from the kitchen faucet? Some people drink bottled water because they think it is better for them than water out of the tap, but that's not true. In the US, local governments make sure water from the faucet is safe. People love the convenience of bottled water. But maybe if they realized the problems it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a refillable steel container instead of plastic. Unfortunately, for every six water bottles we use, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The rest are sent to landfills. Or, even worse, they end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes and the ocean. Plastic bottles take many hundreds of years to break down. Water is good for you, so keep drinking it. But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change. And yes, you can make a difference. Remember this: recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours. No matter who you are, you can do something for the environment. Join us and protect the environment. What's the best title for this passage? Answer: Drinking water: bottled or from the tap? " Drink your milk.It is good for you! " You've probably heard that many times, and it is true.Milk contains calcium, which is a necessary nutrient for keeping bones and teeth healthy and strong.The US government even requires milk as part of the National School: Lunch Program, saying that students should drink one cup of fat - free milk at each meal. Last Thursday, however, a group of doctors asked the government to remove the lunch program.The Physical Committee for Responsible Medicine says, "Milk is high in sugar, high in fat and high in animal? protein," all of which have negative effects on health.The PCRM says there were better and healthier ways to get calcium such as eating beans, broccoli, cereals and tofu.Orange juice and soymilk that have calcium added to them also supply the nutrient."One of the only reasons people talk about dairy, or promote it at all, is because it is going to help build strong hones." says Dr.Neal Barnard, president of the PCRM.But milk may not be the best way to get calcium your body needs. Of course, calcium is important for health bones and teeth, but there are other things that affect your bone strength, such as genes, how much vitamin D you take in and getting an hour' s worth of exercise every day. Some nutritionists disagree with the idea that milk isn' t important.Keri Gans, a dietitian, says, " I think it is irresponsible to take this beverage that children enjoy, especially among those who are unable to meet their nutrient needs for the day, and remove it from lunch time." The US government is studying the request of the PCRM, but a decision may be a one way to take off.Meanwhile, Marion Nestle, a professor at New York University, put it best: " Milk demonstrably has nutrients.Other foods have the same nutrients.It' s just a food.Like other foods, too much might be a problem." Which of the following opinions does the PCRM support? Answer: Milk is harmful to students' health. Our little boy came up to his mother one evening while she was cooking supper, and handed her a piece of paper with some words written on. And this is what it said: For cutting the grass in the garden $5.00 For cleaning up my bedroom this week $1. 00 For going to the store for you $0. 50 For baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping $2. 25 For taking out the rubbish $1. 00 For getting a good report card $5. 00 Total owed : $14.75 After reading, his mother thought for a while. Then she picked up the pen, turned over the paper and wrote: For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me--free For the nights and days I worried about you--free For the toys, clothes, food--free For all the love I've given you--free Then with tears in his eyes, our son looked straight up at his mother and said, "Mom, I love you. " And he took the pen and wrote: "PAID IN FULL". The boy did a lot of chores except _ . Answer: cooking supper in the kitchen In the past, if a person wanted to see the national treasures of a country, one had to go there in person. Therefore, very few people were able to enjoy some of history's most important and interesting artifacts . This has changed with an increase in the number of traveling museum exhibitions. King Tutankhamen Artifacts A traveling exhibition of artifacts from the tomb of King Tutankhamen, popularly known as "King Tut", toured the United States from November 1976 to April 1979. The 55 objects were shown in six cities and were seen by around eight million museum-goers. The second touring exhibit was started in 2007, this time with 130 artifacts and stops in London and three different American cities. However some objects, like the king's golden face mask, are too valuable or too delicate to be transported long distances, so "replicas" (exact copies of something) are on show. Japanese Color Woodblock Prints The Art Museum at University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia, has an extraordinary collection of Japanese color woodblock prints . These prints document the period from about 1850 to 1900, a time when Japan was opening itself to Western influences. Before this point, Japan was a closed society that had little communication with the world outside of its borders. These works of art beautifully show the feeling of change and the trend toward modernization. The museum has put together a traveling exhibition of 60 of these prints, which can be borrowed and exhibited worldwide for periods of eight weeks or more. Face-to-face with "Lucy" One of the world's most famous archaeological finds in history are the 3.2 million-year-old bones of a 106-centimeter-tall female found in the Ethiopian desert in 1974. Lucy, a name given to her by the discovery team, is a "hominid", or a creature that scientists believe is the earliest ancestor of modern human beings. Rarely is an artifact this valuable allowed to travel widely, but Lucy has been taken to several museums in the U.S. while a detailed replica remains at the Ethiopian Natural History Museum. What do the Japanese woodblock prints show about the society from 1850 to 1900? Answer: Japan was opening itself up to Western ideas.
South Korean films Beijing audience can view five South Korean films,all with Chinese subtitles ,until April 19 at the Tuixin Cinema on Being National Library grounds. Location:Tuixin Cinema,Being National Library,39 Baishiqiao Road,Haidian Distict. Telephone:86415566 "The King and the Clown" April 15: 9:00,13:00,15:30,19:30 "My Wife is Gangster" April 16: 9:00,13:30,18:15 "Marrying the Mafia" April 18: 9:00,13:30,18:15 "Another Public Enemy" April 18: 9:00,13:30,15:30,18:15 "Sex is Zero" April 19: 9:00,13:30,15:30,17:30 19:30 prefix = st1 /Leon's show Hong Kong pop star--Leon Lai will give a personal performance at 7:30 pm from tomorrow through to September 21 at Shanghai Gymnasium. Tickets:60,90,120,180 yuan,available at 66 Jiangning Road. Address:Shanghai Gymnasium,1111 Caoxi Road N. Tel:29189188,29171145,49384952,29197113Russian concert The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra will put on some excellent Russian choral works at 7:15 pm on September 26 and 27 at the Shanghai Concert Hall. They will sing Russian folk songs and a Mass under a Russian conductor who is very famous and has given a successful choral concert in Beijing. Tickets:6,8,10,12 yuan,available at the hall's ticket office. Address:523 Yan'an Road M. Shanghai Tel:32275694Korean songs The Song and Dance Troupe of the RepublicofKoreawill give a Song and Dance show at 7:30 pm tonight at the Shanghai Center Theatre. Tickets:10,20,30 yuan,available at the theatre's ticket office Address:1376 Nanjing Road W. Shanghai Tel:29798663 will put on performance at 7:30 pm at Shanghai Center Theater. A. Leon Lai B. The ShanghaiPhilharmonic Orchestra C. The Song and Dance Troupe of the RepublicofKorea D. a Russian Philharmonic Orchestra Answer: C A great deal of attention should be paid to the choosing of a vacation destination. Here are four of the must-see attractions in Alberta, Canada. The Banff Gondola The entire Banff area is a destination filled with wonderful things to do, but one of the best things to do is ride the Banff Gondola . This gondola takes visitors high above the beautiful scenery of the area, giving them wonderful views and photographic opportunities. The ride is also thrilling with a steady altitude change as the vehicle gets higher and higher. The Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is one of the best events in Alberta. It has been taking place for a very long time. The entire event is worth the effort in going, everything from the opening parades and celebrations to the later events and competitions. Johnston Canyon For those wanting to experience some of the beautiful natural surroundings that are offered in Alberta, a visit to Johnston Canyon is a must. In this canyon, there are a number of impressive waterfalls available. They are very easy to approach. Miette hot springs The number one attraction there at the Miette Hot Springs is the hot springs themselves. The pools are filled with water straight from the springs and are very clean. There is plenty of room to swim and play. There are also quiet spots to relax and enjoy some quiet time. For those without a strict schedule, staying at the hot springs for a night or two is a great choice. What do the Miette Hot Springs probably provide? A. Accommodation. B. Medical care. C. Photographing. D. Free transportation. Answer: A The way we get about has a deep influence on the way we live-affecting where we set up home, work and holiday. So what changes might come in the way we get around? What big ideas are out there, and do they have any chance of coming true? Personal Air Travel The idea: flying cars Developments in light small plane technology will make it possible for everyone to own what are, in fact, flying cars. They will have closed cabins, heating, stereos and room for two people. You will take off from a field near your home and fly to towns and cities. After landing, you will take off the fixed wing and continue your journey by road just as if you were traveling by car. Fuel efficient engines and the advantage of being able to travel in the sky will keep costs and the environmental influence down. Flying for Fun The idea: Jet Packs The idea was a hit when a stuntman flew around on one during the opening ceremony of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which was very successful. You'll be able to use the equipment-roughly the size of two scuba tanks fastened to your back-for short journeys. They will be handy for cleaning hard-to-reach windows, arriving in style at a party and shopping. Taxis The idea: driverless taxis These computer-controlled taxis will take you wherever you want along a fixed route, whenever you want to go. For the price of one person's bus fare, several people can ride at speeds of up to 25 mph, and there will be fences to guard against accidents. There will be little, if any, wait for the use of the taxis, which will leave from stations and will be used by prepaid cards. The taxis, which will travel on a 1.5 m-wide track, will use 75% less energy per passenger than a car and 50% less than a bus. We learn from the passage that flying cars _ . A. will operate only in the sky B. will be more expensive than common cars C. will have few bad effects on the environment D. won't be equipped with things similar to what cars have Answer: C It's 10:30 p.m. and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: " R U awake?" But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can't imagine life without them. " If I didn't have a cell phone, I wouldn't be able to talk to my friends or family as often," he told TFK. Brandon's use of technology doesn't stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles in his room. With so many choices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That's about an hour more than just five years ago. The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. Today, nearly seven out of ten kids have cell phones. Just five years ago, it was four out of ten. " These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it's on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor," says Rideout. Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. " If you've got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?" Media expert Cheryl Olson says. Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. " It's a matter of balance," says Olson. " You've got to work on it." Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. "It's important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply," says Rideout. Logan Jones, 11, of Maumelle, Arkansas, describes himself as a "game freak". Still, he is glad not to have unlimited time with his PlayStation 2. "I'll tell my mom I'm going to play a game, and she'll say, 'Okay, but only for 30 minutes,'", Logan told TFK. With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use in check is more important than ever. " Kids should try," adds Rideout. ":But parents might have to step in sometimes." It can be learnt from the text that _ . A. Brandon feels annoyed about his late-night message. B. Olson is against teenagers' using mobile phones. C. many teenagers lack friends in their middle school D. kids have too many electronic devices to choose from Answer: D Whether you admit it or not, music improves our daily life and makes us feel easy, especially the music of Beethoven and Mozart. But can you believe that a school in England is using classical music to cut down students' bad behavior? The head teacher Brian Walker at the West Park School in Derby asks some students to stay behind after school on Fridays. He forces his students to listen to Mozart and other classical music. He also makes them copy his favorite poems and they have to watch educational videos. Mr. Walker says his main aim is to stop noisy pupils causing trouble in class for students who want to study. He said the students staying behind were "not the smokers or drinkers, the truants or the people who are late for school...It's those who have slowed the learning and teaching in class for everyone". Mr. Walker said this was unacceptable, because it was making the rest of the students fail to focus their attention on their study. Mr. Walker believes what he does reminds students that education is something to value. "It helps them see they are part of something bigger that will improve their life chances," he said. The head teacher thinks students in fact learn from being kept behind after school. "Hopefully, I open their ears to an experience they don't normally have and don't want to have again, so it's both educational and acts as a warning." Music has had success elsewhere in reducing bad behavior. In 2004, it reduced crime on London's subway by 25 percent. Researchers from a Belfast university found it helped stop elephants' bad behavior. However, one West Park student called Kieran said, "An hour of Mr. Walker's music is a real killer." Why does Mr. Walker say some students' bad behavior is unacceptable? A. Because the rest of the students hate them. B. Because they are wasting their life. C. Because they are disturbing teachers. D. Because they have a bad influence on the other students. Answer: D
Mr. Ma, a famous mental doctor from Beijing once said at an important meeting, "Now many young students can have problems with their minds. Some students become worried because they have to study very hard. Others have trouble getting on well with people around them like their parents and classmates. Parents and teachers should care more about this problem." Then Mr. Ma gave some examples. One patient, a middle school students from Xi'an was doing badly in his lessons. He thought his teachers and friends often laughed at him, and he became so nervous and worried that one night he left his home without telling parents. Another student, a 14-year-old schoolgirl from Shanghai, was very afraid of exams. While she was reading the exam paper, she couldn't think of anything to write. A recent report fromJiefang Dailysays about 18% of the young students in Shanghai have mental problems. They often felt worried and very unhappy. Unluckily many of them won't go and ask for help. Some think they will look _ if they go to see a doctor. Others won't talk about their secrets. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Ma offered some good ideas to young people: u Talk to your parents or teacher often. u Take part in group activities. u Try to get on well with the people around you. u Go to see a doctor if you often feel unhappy. The students who often become worried or have trouble getting on with others may have _ . A. no parents B. no secrets C. poor memories D. mental problems Answer: D A dog can't speak any words, but it can "talk". It has feelings just as you do. Sometimes it may feel angry or afraid. Watch a dog closely, and you can find out how it feels. You can see what it is trying to tell you. When you are afraid, you may look down. When a dog is afraid, it may run away. When you are angry with other people, you stare at them. An angry dog also stares. Sometimes the hair along its back stands up. Do you feel guilty when you do something you shouldn't do? Dogs can feel guilty, too. Sometimes when I come home, my dog gives me a guilty look. Then I know he did something wrong. Dogs need love and care. Some dogs are very unhappy when they are alone for a long time. Some dogs even snap if they don't get enough care. You may have a dog or you may know a dog. Take care of it well if you want to have fun with it. Take it on walks. Don't make it do too many things. Try not to punish it again and again for doing the same thing. Always remember, a dog has needs and feelings just as you do. Talk to a dog, and it will talk to you. When _ , you know that a dog has done something wrong. A. It runs away from you B. its hair stands up C. its tail shakes D. it has a guilty look Answer: D People sometimes like to read stories of dogs very much. They think that dogs are much cleverer than cats, sheep, cows or other animals in their homes. One of my best friends, Bob, has a dog named Jack. Every Sunday afternoon, Bob and Jack have a walk in the park nearby. Jack likes these walks very much. One Sunday afternoon, I stayed in Bob's home for a long time and we talked happily. Soon it was time for them to take a walk in the park. Jack was worried about it. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of me and looked at me. But I still paid no attention to him. I went on talking with my friend. At last, Jack could not wait any longer. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down in front of me again. But this time, he held my hat in his mouth. Suddenly, I understood what Jack meant. How many people are there in this story? _ . A. One B. Two C. Three D. Four Answer: B Next time a customer comes to your office, offer him a cup of coffee. And when you're doing your holiday shopping online, make sure you're holding a large glass of iced tea. The physical sensation of warmth encourages emotional warmth, while a cold drink in hand prevents you from making unwise decisions--those are the practical lesson being drawn from recent research by psychologist John A. Bargh. Psychologists have known that one person's perception of another's "warmth" is a powerful determiner in social relationships. Judging someone to be either "warm" or "cold" is a primary consideration, even trumping evidence that a "cold" person may be more capable. Much of this is rooted in very early childhood experiences, Bargh argues, when babies' conceptual sense of the world around them is shaped by physical sensations, particularly warmth and coldness. Classic studies by Harry Harlow, published in 1958, showed monkeys preferred to stay close to a cloth "mother" rather than one made of wire, even when the wire "mother" carried a food bottle. Harlow's work and later studies have led psychologists to stress the need for warm physical contact from caregivers to help young children grow into healthy adults with normal social skills. Feelings of "warmth" and "coldness" in social judgments appear to be universal. Although no worldwide study has been done, Bargh says that describing people as "warm" or "cold" is common to many cultures, and studies have found those perceptions influence judgment in dozens of countries. To test the relationship between physical and psychological warmth, Bargh conducted an experiment which involved 41 college students. A research assistant who was unaware of the study's hypotheses , handed the students either a hot cup of coffee, or a cold drink, to hold while the researcher filled out a short information form. The drink was then handed back. After that, the students were asked to rate the personality of "Person A" based on a particular description. Those who had briefly held the warm drink regarded Person A as warmer than those who had held the iced drink. "We are grounded in our physical experiences even when we think abstractly," says Bargh. We can infer from the passage that _ . A. abstract thinking does not come from physical experiences B. feelings of warmth and coldness are studied worldwide C. physical temperature affects how we see others D. capable persons are often cold to others Answer: C Matt and his wife lived in the country. Matt was very mean and hated spending money. One day a fair came to the nearby town. They went to the fair and looked at all the things to buy. Matt's wife wanted to buy a hat only costing $28, but was refused. Later on, a comb of $5 attracted her attention, but he would not let her spend any money. Then, in a nearby field, they saw a small airplane. "Fun flight!" the notice said, "$10 for 10 minutes." Matt had never been in an airplane and he wanted to go on a fun flight. However, he didn't want to pay for his wife either. "I've only got $10," he told the pilot. "Can my wife come with me for free?" The pilot wasn't selling many tickets, so he said, "I'll make a bargain with you. If your wife doesn't scream, she can have a free flight." Matt agreed, and got into the small airplane with his wife. The pilot took off and made his airplane do all kinds of things. At one moment it was flying upside down. When the plane landed, the pilot said, "OK, your wife didn't make a sound. She can have her ride free." "Thank you," Matt said, "it wasn't easy for her, you know, especially when she fell out." What can we infer from the passage? A. Matt loved money more than his wife. B. Matt would like to buy everything for his wife. C. The pilot didn't mind whether Matt's wife would pay. D. Matt's wife enjoyed her riding in the plane. Answer: A
In September 2013, the China National Tourism Administration issued a new set of tourist guideline in order to improve tourists' behavior when they travel abroad. Although the 64-page handbook contains suggestions for Chinese tourists when traveling at home, the main purpose is to improve the poor reputation of Chinese tourists abroad. In 2013, more than 83 million Chinese people traveled overseas, up 18 percent from the year 2012, according to the China Tourism Academy. But even as they travel farther, the Chinese tourists continue to take bad habits with them. From damaging ancient Egyptian temples to letting children defecate in the middle of airports, Chinese tourists have earned a bad fame. Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang even stressed the need for Chinese tourists to behave better while traveling overseas so as to protect China's image abroad. Now with the latest "guidebook", Chinese travelers should have no excuse for rude behavior. According to the guidelines, when using the restroom, Chinese tourists are asked not to forget to flush the toilet after using it. The guidelines also remind tourists of not fighting with others when they want to take pictures at tourist attractions. When flying, the guidelines advise travelers not to take life vests away from airplanes. Chinese tourists are also encouraged to be respectful of local customs wherever they travel. In the United Kingdom, for example, it is not polite to ask people. Where are you going?" or "Have you eaten?", the handbook says. Nevertheless, with a very short history of traveling overseas, it is not surprising that many Chinese tourists behave badly on their foreign trips. We should give them time to change. ,. What are Chinese tourists encouraged to do? Respect local customs wherever they travel. Henry Edwards Huntington Henry Edwards Huntington was born in 1850 in Oneonta,New York.In 1872 he went to work for his uncle,one of the owners of the Central Pacific Railroad.Twenty years later, Huntington moved to San Francisco at his uncle's request to share management of the Southern Pacific Railroad.On the way to San Francisco,he visited San Marino,and later bought it,which is home to his collections today. In 1902,Huntington moved his business operations to Los Angeles,where he developed the street railway system that created the structure of the Los Angeles area.He greatly expanded the existing electric railway lines,creating an extensive inter-urban system providing the transportation necessary.Huntington's business interests continued to grow particularly in the areas of water,power,and land development;at one time he served on as many as 60 corporate boards throughout the United States. At the age of 60,he announced his decision to retire in order to devote time to his book and art collections and the landscaping of the 600acre farm.In 1911 the large Beaux Arts building,in the charge of the architect Myron Hunt,was completed. In 1913,Huntington married Arabella Duval Huntington.She shared his interests in collecting.As one of the most important art collectors of her generation,she was highly influential in the development of the art collection now shown in the former building. In 1919,Henry and Arabella Huntington signed the agreement that conveyed their San Marino property and collections to a nonprofit educational trust,creating the Huntington,one of the world's great cultural,research,and educational centers. Henry E.Huntington died in 1927,leaving his great treasures the Huntington,including the world--famous H untington Library,Art Gallery,and Botanical Gardens in San Marino,California to the public,which hosts more than 500,000 visitors each year. This passage is most probably taken from a biography What if you could fly like a bird just by thinking happy thoughts? Or you could disappear to a faraway land, never grow old and fight pirates every day? For Peter Pan and his friends, the Lost Boys, these dreams come true. More than 100 years after this playful boy was "born", Peter Pan and his friends are to continue their adventure in a sequel to J.M. Barrie's original novel. "Peter Pan in Scarlet" ,written by British author Geraldine McCaughrean, was published earlier this month. The sequel brings all the original characters back. Peter Pan's friends, the Lost Boys, are now grown up and live in the real world. What's more, at the end of the first book, Peter Pan thinks he has killed his enemy, Captain Hook. But ,new readers discover he is not so dead at all. For those who are unfamiliar with the original story, Peter Pan lives in faraway Neverland with a group of orphans. But they are eager for a real mother and Peter Pan flies to London with a fairy , Tinkerbell, to find one. They visit a young girl, Wendy, who loves to read stories, and bring her and her two brothers back to Neverland to live with them. In Neverland, children never have to grow up, and there are no parents to tell them what to do. Many teenagers dream of a world where they don't have to grow old and take responsibility. But, the author explains such a world is not the paradise when it first appears: adventures can be scary and often dangerous, and, though we all sometimes dream of running away, we all need someone to love and look after us too. Peter Pan flies to London _ . to find a real mother Peter is thirteen years old. He is in Grade Two this year. He likes to play football and watch football matches. And he often reads newspapers. He does his best to know when and where there is going to be a football match. Now Peter is having lunch. He is listening to the radio , too. He is very happy because there is going to be a football match this afternoon. But he has to have English and Chinese lessons. He thinks hard and finds a way."Hello, Mrs. Black,"Peter says to his teacher on the telephone. "Peter is ill in bed. He wants to ask for half a day's leave .""Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," says Mrs. Black. "But who is that?""It's my father, Mrs. Black," says Peter. Which of the following is TRUE? Peter is not an honest boy. When raising children, the small things make big differences in development . Because children are people, not machines, different children need different things, and buying band name clothing and having the perfect haircut or the biggest collection of expensive toys are not the kind of attention that they need. These kinds of things will make children feel rejected and teach them that material things and appearance are more important than love. Children need the attention from their parents. The areas of their lives and the abilities that get the most attention will develop the most. If the majority of parental attention is given to the way they stand or to finishing tasks, these areas will become more developed. When parents focus on finding faults, children will eventually take in all of that criticism. These methods often lead to unmotivated children with low self-esteem . Children need attention to be given to the details of their lives. They need encouragement from their parents. Statements like,"It makes me happy when you play nicely with your brother" will make a child feel good . Identify the specific talent, how it is used, and your reaction to it. Train the young minds to search for their talents with the same kind of attention to the details that may have previously been devoted to fault-finding. It also helps to identify personal qualities to praise rather than external ones based on appearance. Focusing on the details when children do good things is important. They need to know exactly what they did was good and how it made you feel .Parents often spend too much time looking for faults. When parents focus on good things, it results in motivated children with high self-esteem. _ ) are also. Why is fault-finding bad for children? It will reduce their self-esteem and motivation.
This is the true story of a great woman. Her name was Helen Keller. She was born in 1880 in Alabama in the USA. When Helen was one year and a half, she got ill and then she became blind and deaf. Her parents tried to do their best for their daughter and they asked a young teacher called Anne Sullivan to their home to teach Helen. Anne herself was almost blind in her youth. Helen was a smart girl but she couldn't hear or talk. She was angry at this. So she was always crying and shouting. Then Anne often went for walks with Helen in the country near her home. After two weeks, Helen became quiet. Anne began to teach her how to spell and Helen learned to write. Boards with lines on them helped her to keep the words straight. Soon her talents were famous all over the world. There were her stories in newspapers and magazines. By the time she was 17, she was studying French, German, Latin, Physics and many other subjects. She was still blind and deaf. In 1902, she wrote a book The Story of my life. It became well-known all over the world. Why was Helen always crying and shouting? Answer: Because she couldn't hear or talk. China is casting a huge shadow on the United States that many Americans are struggling to learn Chinese in order to maintain their competitive edge. "Interest in learning Chinese among American youth and their parents has grown dramatically in the past five years," said Vivien Stewart at the Asia Society, a US grow trying to bridge the gap between Americans and people of Asia and the Pacific. China, the world's most popular nation, is very important to the United States because it is a leading trader, consumer and investor. Its political influence is also rising across the globe. It has replaced the United States as the world's largest consumer and could become the second largest economy country in the world, after the superpower status and its telling effects politically, economically and culturally are driving the interest to learn the language, experts say. From kindergartens to high schools, studies by the Asia Society show, there is a "rapid rise" in interest among pupils to study the Chinese language. Even though the US State Department has stressed the Chinese language "important " to national prosperity and security, the "current infrastructure to support recruitment of students and teachers as well as the growth of high quality programs is badly inadequate," an Asia Society study says. The Society has set a target of having at least 5% of American high school students learning Chinese by 2015. " Millions of Chinese are learning English, but only 24,000 Americans are learning Chinese," said Andrew Corcoran of the San Francisco - based Chinese American International School. What might be the most suitable title for this passage? Answer: Americans Show Interest Learning Chinese Imagine life without the Internet -- not being able to chat with your friends or look up information for your homework or research project. That is the reality for nearly two-thirds of our world's population, either because they cannot afford WiFi access or are located in remote, inaccessible areas. Now Google has decided to do something about that. Google's Project Loon will attempt to send balloons high up into our earth's atmosphere in 2015. Each balloon will be equipped with a mini computer and a WiFi radio that will send Internet signals over the places it is floating over. The network equipment on Google balloons will communicate with a special antenna attached to each user's home. These antennae are in turn connected to a local Internet Service Provider. Each balloon will also communicate with each other to hand over signals as one floats out of an area, and another floats in. The balloons are 15 meters wide and made of a material that is three times thicker than the plastic bag at the supermarket. This helps them defend themselves against cold temperatures and changing air pressure. Google balloons will circle the earth at a height of 20 kilometers-- in a layer of our atmosphere known as the stratosphere . This is higher than the altitude at which planes fly. Once the balloons reach the desired altitude after being released from the earth, they will ride on air currents. What keeps these balloons from flying away? They will be controlled by people at the Project Loon command center. A pump operating on solar power will fill the balloon with gas to raise it or let gas out to lower it, based on instructions. This allows the balloon to float on different air currents which are moving either clockwise or anti-clockwise. There is no doubt that this technology can bring education to many children, weather information to farmers, and communication to natural disaster areas. However, one big question remains -- will some countries be comfortable with balloons above their heads? There could be concerns about spying and other problems. According to the text, Google balloons_. Answer: will be placed in the stratosphere We spend lots of our lives in the school, getting knowledge, developing ourselves and growing up. It is so important that the school provides a pleasant environment. So all the students must do the following: In the Classrooms All classes must have a duty book. Classrooms must be clean and tidy. Waste paper baskets should be emptied before the first lesson every morning. All students are to make sure that the classrooms stay clean and tidy all the day. The class cabinets are strictly for keeping things for the class. No personal things are kept in the class cabinets. Each class is to provide their own batteries for the clock in the classroom. Class Signs Class signs are put up for your teachers and your parents to easily find you. So please take good care of them. School Toilets For good hygiene and convenience of all, please keep our toilets dry and clean. Always clean them with water after use and wash your hands after that. Do not waste paper. The school can only provide paper in a month. Please use the school toilets as you use the toilet in your own home. The possible title of the passage is " _ ". Answer: School rules Energy goes from one plant or animal to another.A food chain shows how this energy moves.Each time an animal gets eaten,its energy is passed onto the animal that eats it.The food chain is very important because it keeps the balance of nature.If one part of the food chain disappears,it can affect all the other plants and animals.Any threat to the food chain is a threat to the environment's biodiversity .The food chain helps keep animal populations in balance.However,if something happens to damage one of the links in the food chain,that balance is broken.If one animal becomes endangered,it puts all the animals above it at risk. Some of the threats are natural,such as wildfires,hurricanes,tornados,floods and so on.But the biggest threats to the food chain come from you and me.These threats include overfishing,logging,farming,development,pollution,etc.The food chain is endangered anywhere humans have had an effect on the natural environment. A recent study shows that the overfishing of large sharks is damaging the food chain along the US Atlantic coast.Canadian and American scientists say sharks are being killed in great numbers for their meat and fins .Now,not enough sharks are around to eat the cownose ray.The ray's population has increased and they have eaten up the shellfish to the point where it has hurt commercial fishing. Many of us disturb the natural environment in our own backyards.It's up to us to take care of the environment and try not to disrupt the natural food chain.If we don't act responsibly,animals will start disappearing. We can infer that the writer wrote this passage mainly to _ . Answer: suggest that we should not disrupt the natural food chain
Two friends were walking through the desert. During the journey they had an argument , and the taller boy slapped the shorter one in the face. The short boy was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand: "Today my best friend slapped me in the face." They kept on walking until they found a pond, and they decided to take a bath there. But the short boy got stuck in the mud and started to sink . He cried, "Help! Help!" Luckily, he was pulled to safety by his friend. After that, he carved on a stone: "Today my best friend saved my life." The taller boy asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote it in the sand and now you carve it on a stone. Why?" The shorter boy replied: "When someone hurts you, you should write it in the sand where winds can erase it easily. But when someone does something good for you, you must carve it in the stone where no wind can ever erase it." You have to learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in the stone. ,A, B, C, D,. What is the best title for the text? Answer: Americans have used colors to create many expressions they use every day. We say you're 'in the pink' when we are in good health. It is easy to understand how this expression was born. When my face has a nice fresh, pink color, it is a sign my health is good. The color green is natural for trees, it is an unnatural color for humans. When someone doesn't feel well, someone who is sick, for example, we say he 'looks green'. When someone is angry because he doesn't have what someone else has, we say he is 'green with envy'. Some people are 'green with envy' because someone else has more dollars, or 'green backs'. Dollars are called 'greenbacks' because that's the color of the backside of the money. Blue is a cool color. The traditional blue music of American blacks is the opposite of red hot music. It is slow, sad and soulful ( ). To be blue, of course, is to be sad. The color black is often used in expressions. People describe a day in which everything grows wrong as a 'black day'. A 'black sheep' is the member of a family or group who always seems to be in trouble. If someone meets a 'black cat', something unlucky might happen to him. Not all the 'black' expressions have bad meaning. A company 'in the red' is losing money. If someone tells you to put someone 'in black and white', they want you to write it down. After reading the passage, we can infer ( ) if someone 'looks grey', he _ . Answer: Walls and wall building have played a very important role in Chinese culture. In ancient times, not only towns and villages, but also the houses and the temples within them were surrounded with walls. Also, the houses had no windows overlooking the street. Thus, walking in a city would give the feeling of wandering around a huge maze . The word "city" in Chinese also means "wall". The god of walls and mounts, whose duty was, and still is, to protect and be responsible for the welfare of the residents in these cities, villages, houses and temples. So a great and extremely hard task such as constructing a wall, which was supposed to run the length of the country, might not sound absurd . However, it is indeed a common mistake to think of the Great Wall as a single building structure, and it would also be a mistake to assume that it was built during a single dynasty. Actually, several dynasties somehow contributed to the construction of the Great Wall, the foundations of which had been laid many centuries ago. It was during the fourth and third centuries BC that warring states started building walls to protect their kingdoms, both against one another and against the northern nomads . The Great Wall played an important role in the growth of Chinese economy in history. Many settlements were established along the new border. Armies were instructed to reclaim wasteland and to plant crops there. Also, roads and canals were built. All of the work greatly helped increase the country's trade and cultural exchanges with many remote areas and also with the southern, central and western parts of Asia. According to the passage, constructing a wall running the length of the country _ . Answer: Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch. They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take flight. Suddenly, the old lady's work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen--a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on top of the haystack. The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof--the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs. There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell. "We have to got and help her," whispered Amy. "What if it is a trick?" replied Ben. "Don't be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already," reasoned Meg. "Come on Amy, let's go." The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack. Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady's face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken. "Go and get Dad," Amy yelled to her brother. "Tell him about the accident." The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as they could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs. . Why were the children hiding in the tree? Answer: There are all kinds of food in the world. Some people like the Chinese food. Firstly, the Chinese food has a lot of fruit and green vegetables. It has little sugar and fat. Secondly, the Chinese food is very delicious and has many dishes. So Chinese people can keep fit and have white teeth. However, some people enjoy the western food. Now many people, especially the workers in companies , are too busy to have lunch slowly so the western food meets their need and they can eat quickly. And the food is not too bad, too. It is a great pleasure to try eating a different style of food. In my opinion, I like the Chinese food more than the western food. First of all I'm a Chinese and used to Chinese food, it can keep us healthy. On the other hand, the western food is high in fat, sugar and salt. If you eat too much these food and don't take enough exercise, you'll get fat easily. The western food is too expensive and "not good value for money". There are _ food in the world. Answer:
In a world today of immense technology, population growth and economic flourish, planning for future residential and commercial developments needs careful analysis with well thought through assumptions about effects on the environment and the people of the community. One example of a growing city is Wooster, Ohio, my place of residency, Wooster in the last five years has grown considerably in population, leading to a growth in commercial business. Surrounded by farmland, Wooster's planning commission chose to extend the community into these farm areas in the form of residential and commercial areas. Picture this--corn fields, old trees, clean air, country roads, and wildlife are all part of the area. Within four years, the people living on this farm step outside on their front porch to view an extensive shopping center containing Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Wendy's, TCBY, and a Cinemark movie theatre. The once quiet road is now a city street with traffic lights, busy with automobiles day and night. The air smells of car exhaust and fast food. Some destruction of farmland is unavoidable when a city expands. Instead of expanding outward, planning commissions should consider interior _ of a city. Tearing down unusable buildings could remodel many areas inside the city. In addition, commercialized buildings could extend upwards to avoid unnecessary use of land. Environmentally, commercial expansion is harmful to the land. Besides forms of pollution, wildlife, including both plants and animals, is put at risk. A planning commission could have realized the benefits of environmental protection. Why not preserve the beauty and naturalness of the land while at the same time allowing for growth? With a steady growth of population and the need for more homes and more workplaces, many problems arise when planning for the future. The hillsides, fields and animal habitats need to be preserved while expanding cities. In the future, a world covered with concrete and asphalt could become reality. Serious research and analysis are needed when planning for the future of our home communities and for the entire globe to avoid such a miserable result. It can be inferred from the passage that _ . A. it is unavoidable to destroy farmland when a city grows B. Wooster used to be a quiet and peaceful city surrounded by farmland C. with many nationwide shopping centers, Wooster lost its uniqueness D. commercial expansion has done no harm to Wooster Answer: B. Wooster used to be a quiet and peaceful city surrounded by farmland Living abroad to study can certainly be an interesting experience but is that alone a good enough reason for spending years far away from home? To make the experience truly worthwhile, there has to be a goal behind the decision to study abroad. This may be a wish to perfect language skills in a foreign language environment, or a clever move in your career development. You must also consider the costs, not just of living and studying abroad, but of applying. Most universities now charge application fees for international students. If after considering these points you are sure that you want to apply to study abroad, your next step is to choose the right programme of studies. Research your choices and select carefully. You must do your homework well. Most universities have information online but you can also email and ask them to send you more details. You can find a lot of information on school ranking from education websites. But read carefully. Different universities emphasize different strengths. Don't just think about the university's reputation ; look for the most suitable for your goals. Next, you must deal with a large pile of paperwork. This involves filling in application form, preparing your school records, and getting reference letters. Reading the instructions and requirements of the universities carefully is of great importance. Sadly, many fine applicants get kicked out in the first round, simply because they don't follow the application procedure properly. Money is another important consideration. Some scholarships are provided by governments, others by schools and colleges. This information, again, can be found on the Internet. If you find a scholarship that is suitable for you, follow the application procedure carefully; the earlier you apply, the better your chance of getting it. What are the three basic steps when you apply? A. Buy an airplane ticket, read the instructions and requirements, and study. B. Prepare reference letters, prepare school records, and fill in the application form. C. Prepare school records, do paperwork, and work hard. D. Write a reference letter, do paperwork, and study. Answer: B. Prepare reference letters, prepare school records, and fill in the application form. Several different stories are told about the origin of Saint Valentine's Day. One legend dates as far back as the days of Roman Empire . According to the story, Claudius, the Emperor of Rome, wanted to increase the size of the army. He knew that it would be easier to get young men who were not married to join the army. Therefore, he made a rule that no young men could marry until he had served in the army for a certain number of years. A priest named Valentine broke the rule and secretly married a great number of young people. Finally, Claudius found out about Valentine and put the priest in prison, where he remained until his death on February 14. After his death, Valentine was made a saint and the day of his death was named Saint Valentine's Day. It became the custom for lovers to send each other message on this day. Now Saint Valentine's Day is a time for people to send one another their greeting of many kinds. February 14, Valentine's Day, is sweetheart's day, on which people in love with each other express their tender emotions . People sometimes put their love message in a heart-shaped box of chocolates or a bunch of flowers tied with red ribbons . Words of letters may be written on the flower-covered card, or something else. Whatever the form may be, the message is almost the same "Will you be my Valentine?" Which of the following has nothing to do with (...)Valentine's Day? A. flowers B. cards C. chocolates D. frost Answer: D. frost A student uses a high-efficiency gasoline lawnmower to cut grass. The term "high efficiency" is used to indicate that the lawnmower A. cuts better than other lawnmowers. B. is easier to use than other lawnmowers. C. uses less energy than other lawnmowers. D. requires more fuel than other lawnmowers. Answer: C. uses less energy than other lawnmowers. Hello!I'm Tim Hand, I'm English, but I'm in China. This is my mother. Her first name is Steve. My telephone number is seven-six-zero, nine-one-seven-six, My friend is Li Lei. His English name is Paul. He is Chinese. His telephone number is 281-5248.Look at the photo. Who's that in the photo? It's my Chinese teacher. His name is Liu Yong. He is a good teacher. My telephone number is _ . A. 760-9176 B. 687-9716 C. 281-5248 D. 706-9671 Answer: A. 760-9176
In early November of 1503,during Christopher Columbus's fourth and final trip to America,his ship was seriously damaged in a storm.Columbus and his men had to live on a small island for several months while they tried to repair their ship and return to Spain. At first,the local people on the island were very kind to the European visitors,giving them allthe food and clothes they needed to survive.However,as the months passed,the local people became more and more unhappy with their guests,who were tricking and stealing from them.Finally the locals decided to stop helping.Without food or any way to leave the island,Columbus's group was soon in serious trouble. Luckily for Columbus,he had a book about the stars and planets on his ship.It described the movements of all the objects in the night sky.The book,written by a well-known German scientist,said there would be a total lunar eclipse on the evening of February 29,1504 and how long it would last. Columbus worked out the difference in time between Germ any and North America.He then had a meeting with the local leaders just before the eclipse would take place.In this meeting,Columbus told them his god was angry because the local people were no longer giving food.So his god would take away the moon to punish them.The moment Columbus finished talking,just as he had planned,the moon began disappearing. The local leaders grew frightened and quickly agreed to provide Columbus with food and anything else he wanted.But first,Columbus's god had to return the moon.Columbus told them he would have to discuss the idea with his god on his ship.Knowing the moon would stay completely hidden for about 48 minutes,Columbus returned just before the moon began to reappear.From that day on,until they finally left,Columbus and his men no longer had any trouble getting the food they needed. Where did Columbus learn about the lunar eclipse? A From a book. B From the moon. C From his group. D From the locals. Answer: A The hottest TV drama in China - "Nirvana in Fire" or "Langya Bang" has just ended. Millions of people waited every day after midnight for the latest (two) episodes. Are you one of them? What is the story about? Why the show is so popular? "Nirvana in Fire" is based on an Internet novel by author Hai Yan, who was invited to pen the screenplay for the television adaptation. The 55-episode series, set in a fictionalized kingdom, weaves together two storylines -- one about a betrayed general's revenge and the other about princes fighting for the throne. The series was put on screen on Sep. 19th, and the number of Internet views exceeded 140 million times the next day. Only during the week of National holiday, the number increased by 1.6 billion. It's now the hottest Chinese TV show with a very high score of 9.3 on Douban. (The classical TV drama, Journey to the West, produced in 1986 is with the same score). Previous and recent costume dramas such as "The Journey of Flower" and "Yun Zhong Ge" only scored 6.4 and 3.5. Drawing comparisons to "The Count of Monte Cristo", the story revolves around a gifted young man named Lin Shu, whose father serves as a general. Already a high-ranking military officer by his teenager years, Lin Shu enjoyed a close friendship with Prince Xiao Jingyan and was even engaged to Princess Nihuang. At age 17, however, Lin Shu's life turned upside down when his father's army was _ and destroyed by a foxy political rival. Lin Shu escaped death, but due to the poisoning, his body became weak and frail, and he lost his martial arts abilities. From then on, his face was pale and his fingers always ice-cold. After twelve years, Lin Shu returned to his country's capital with a new name, Mei Changsu, and a new identity, the leader of the Jiang Zuo Alliance. He then became the strategic adviser for his friend, Prince Jingyan, who had been exiled by the king. Despite the efforts of Prince Xiao Jingheng and the crown prince to win the throne for themselves, Mei Changsu succeeds in paving the road for his friend to take over as king, as well as the avenging the injustices dealt to his troops many years before. Which of the following is true? A Lin Shu changed his face and name in order to take revenge. B Lin Shu and the crown prince were childhood friends and Lin helped him to be the king. C Nirvana in Fire was set in a real kingdom in history. D Nirvana in Fire shares the same score with Journey to the West on Douban. Answer: D Opposition is growing to the Berlin Zoo's plans to find a new home for Knut, the moneymaking celebrity polar bear whose popularity has been exploited by environmentalists and even Canadian tourism promoters. No longer cute, and just days before his second birthday, Knut will be given a new home that is expected to include a potential mating partner. The Berlin Zoo, facing the global economic crisis, can't afford the estimated $ 13 million it would take to acquire a female and a new home for them to share. "It's time for him to go--the sooner he gets a new home the better," said senior bear keeper Heiner Kloes. But some Berliners are beginning a campaign, collecting petition signatures and arguing that he's a tourist draw and a symbol as important as the Brandenburg Gate. "He means a lot to many people. When you're with him you forget your problems," Hartmut Wiedenroth, co-founder of the campaign, told Spiegel Online. Knut became an international celebrity in 2007, drawing huge crowds to his cage and _ sales of thousands of Knut toys and Knut-shaped candies. The Vancouver-based Canadian Tourism Commission made Knut a major part of its "Canada--Keep Exploring" campaign to draw tourists to the country-- and especially to polar bear country in northern Manitoba to see them in their natural habitat. Environmentalists also used the bear to promote the fight against global warming. But Knut's popularity diminished as his size increased to 210 kilograms, He was photographed at one point snapping at a child near his cage. In September his keeper, Thomas Doerflein, died of a heart attack. Doerflein, who became a celebrity himself after nursing the tiny ball of white fur when Knut's mother rejected him, had been re-assigned shortly after Knut's first birthday. Some animal rights critics said Knut has been showing unusually aggressive behavior because of his unnatural upbringing. The Berlin Zoo intends to find a new home for Knut mainly because of _ . A the mother bear deserting him B Knut's aggressive behavior C lacking a skillful bear keeper D its financial problem Answer: D When Jane put out the idea of homeschooling to her parents, the first reaction they gave was, "You are cutting the child off the world.'' "Did the child really get cut off or did the child socialize better?" The moment we hear of homeschooling, we think the child will have no opportunities to interact with peers. However, in my friend's opinion, we forget that when attending a regular school, the child is not into socializing all the while. The child is restricted to so many other activities. Studies take a major role in a child's life. The child hardly has the time to interact at school. The child might be meeting and studying along with many peers; however, how many kids interact with all the kids in a class? But in homeschooling system, as my friend mentioned, the kid has all the time and can plan his day accordingly. During the day the child studies just like other school-going kids but with no burden of homework and project work, the child has so much free time in the evening as to effectively interact and play with peers. The quality time the child spends in education is really impressive. Homeschooled kids have the opportunity to socialize more often as they have a lot of time in their hands. They can also make socializing a regular habit. Just as my friend said, her child goes to a neighboring park almost every day and has a set of friends who go there daily. Other children get back home to finish off homework and project work whereas her child who is already through with studies gets the opportunity to spend time with family members. When I heard this, I really felt how lucky the child was. Definitely the child had a better opportunity to socialize when compared with my kid. However, I might not consider homeschooling for my kid, as I am so used to the conventional schooling system and feel regular schooling the safest bet. The author's purpose in writing the passage is to _ . A express his views on homeschooling B explain what homeschooling is C share his ways of teaching his children D promote homeschooling Answer: A By 2050 there will have been an extra 2.5 billion people on earth. And what will they eat? To solve the problem, we should have to double our food production. We can also develop a diet of algae , insects and meat grown in laboratories. Algae can grow very quickly at sea, in polluted water and in places that would normally kill food crops. They are already eaten widely in Japan and China and they are eaten by almost everything from shrimps to blue whales. They can fix CO2 in the atmosphere and provide fats and sugars. Man-made meat looks like meat, feels like meat and it is meat, although it's never been from a living, breathing animal. Instead, it is grown from cells in big containers. Moreover, studies show that producing man-made meat will use far less water, energy and land. China has developed "green super rice", a series of rice types which produce more grain and have stronger ability to fight against floods, salty water, insects and disease. We used traditional plant breeding techniques to cross-breed more than 250 rice types. Green super rice, which is enough to feed an extra 100 million people, will be planted widely in the coming years. Insects like ants are not on most European menus but at least 1,400 kinds are eaten across Africa, Latin America and Asia. Now, with rising food prices and worldwide land shortages, such insects are getting more and more popular. Not only are many insects rich in protein , low in fat and high in Ca and Fe, but insect farms need little space. And they can grow well on paper, algae and industrial wastes. In order to exist in the future, people have to _ . A move to other planets B produce rain in laboratories C build new laboratories for food research D increase the food production or look for other food sources Answer: D
In an American classroom, a teacher asked a Chinese girl to answer a question. She stood up and smiled, without making any sound. The American teacher looked at himself and didn't see anything funny. So he asked her the question again.The girl just smiled but said nothing. The teacher was angry. He didn't know that the girl smiled to cover her embarrassment because she didn't know how to answer the question. In a dining room in Beijing, an Englishman was careless and dropped a plate. The Chinese who saw this began to laugh. The Englishman felt uncomfortable and even got angry."They are laughing at me," he thought. In fact ,the Chinese laughed not at the Englishman or his bad luck---whether he is a foreigner or a Chinese. The laughter has some feelings, don't take it so seriously ;laugh it off, it's nothing;such things can happen to any of us,etc. Which feeling is NOT included in the laughter when the Englishman dropped a plate? Bad luck! The Friday after the American holiday of Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It's said that it's the day that store ledgers move into the black and companies become profitable. On that day, retailers slash prices to get consumers to buy. It is also a time when many Americans start their Christmas shopping. VOA's Elizabeth Lee tells us how the economy may affect consumers on that bargain day. This day should be a shopper's dream. "It's just the deals, the sales and everything you can get for a lesser price," said Sandy Thomas, a shopper. But it's a nightmare for others. "I think it's crazy. I've done all of my shopping throughout the week so I don't have to go out on Friday," she said. It's called Black Friday, the start of the traditional Christmas shopping season in the United States. Every year it's the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. Stores open before sunrise and there are deep discounts everywhere you look. Last year a crowd of bargain-hunters killed a Wal-mart worker in a New York suburb. This year, many stores are increasing security while they slash prices. "This is a huge time for the retail stores," said Fred Joutz from George Washington University. "This is when they begin making their profits for the year." Economics professor Fred Joutz says how Americans spend the weekend after Thanksgiving is a good indication of how consumers feel about the future. With the unemployment rate above 10 percent, Joutz says Americans are saving more and spending less. Some retailers are attracting consumers by opening on Thanksgiving Day, when shops are traditionally closed. Other stores open their doors anywhere from midnight to four in the morning. And shoppers will be lining up in front of the doors in order to be one of the first ones to walk through and get a big discount. Electronics like flat screen TVs are usually the first items to go. Sandy Thomas says it's an annual family tradition and well worth it. "I just save maybe half of what I would have spent on a regular, you know, shopping trip," she said. Economists say U.S. consumers will spend money this Black Friday, but they will spend it more carefully. Why American people call it a black day? Because there are too many people going out shopping for Christmas. The goal of earthquake prediction is to give early enough warning. The U.S. Geological Survey conducts and supports research on the likelihood of future earthquakes. Scientists estimate earthquake probabilities in two ways: by studying the history of large earthquakes in a special area and the rate at which strain accumulates in the rock. Scientists study the past frequency of large earthquakes in order to determine the future likelihood of similar large shocks. For example scientists researched the large earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay region during the 75 years between 1836 and 1911. For the next 68 years, no earthquakes of magnitude 6 or large occurred in the region. Beginning with a magnitude 6 shock in 1979, the earthquakes in the region increased dramatically; between 1979 and 1989, there were four magnitude 6 or greater earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. So scientists estimated that the probability of a magnitude 6.8 or larger earthquake occurring during the next 30 years in the region is about 67 percent. Another way to predict earthquakes is to study how fast strain accumulates. When plate movements build the strain in rocks to a critical level, like pulling a rubber band too tight, the rocks will suddenly break and slip to a new position. Scientists measure how much strain accumulates along a fault each year, how much time has passed since the last earthquake, and how much strain was released in the last earthquake. This information is used to calculate the time required for the accumulating strain to build to the level that results in an earthquake. This simple model is so complicated that such detailed information about faults is rare. In the United States, only the San Andreas Fault System has adequate records for using this prediction method. Scientific understanding of earthquakes is of vital importance to the Nation. As the population increases, expanding urban development and construction encroach upon areas susceptible to earthquakes. With a greater understanding of the causes and effects of earthquakes, we may be able to reduce damage and loss of life from this destruction. That scientists study the history of large earthquakes in certain areas is to ultimately _ . forecast the possibilities of similar earthquakes Flight cancellations and loss of luggage can ruin even the best-planned holiday. The key to a stress-free trip is having a backup plan. Fly non-stop. The worst problems involve connections, so it is important to take non-stop flights whenever possible. If you do have to make a connection, try to route through a southern city, where snowstorms and de-icing delays will be less likely. Always allow at least two to three hours for flight connections. Check the weather. Check the weather in your connecting city, not just the arrival and departure city. If your departure flight is cancelled because of weather, you can go home or back to your hotel. Airlines promise to get you on the next available flight, not the next flight. That could be several days later on a sold-out holiday weekend. Go early. The earlier in the day you fly, the better your chance of getting rebooked the same day after a missed connection. It will also put you ahead of stranded passengers who arrive later. Rebook immediately. As soon as your flight is delayed or cancelled, get on the phone and rebook your flight instead of waiting at the ticket counter. If your rebooking is delayed, call or ask your travel agent to find a seat on another carrier, and then ask your original carrier to endorse your ticket to the new airline. Airlines are not required to do this but often do. Learn more at www. dot. gov/ airconsumer/ fly-rights. Ship bags. A few days before your flight, ship suitcases or holiday gifts to your destination by a documented express service. It's preferable to losing bags because of re-routed flights and sometimes cheaper than paying airline overweight bag fees. Know your rights. Airlines are not required to passengers for delayed or cancelled flights, but it never hurts to ask for goodwill vouchers for meals, taxis or a room. The suggested way for you to rebook your flight is _ . through the phone In a suit attacking the validity of a deed executed 15 years ago, Plaintiff alleges mental incompetency of Joe, the grantor, and offers in evidence a properly authenticated affidavit of Harry, Joe's brother. The affidavit, which was executed shortly after the deed, stated that Harry had observed Joe closely over a period of weeks, that Joe had engaged in instances of unusual behavior (which were described), and that Joe's appearance had changed from one of neatness and alertness to one of disorder and absentmindedness. The judge should rule Harry's affidavit inadmissible as hearsay, not within any exception.
Question: The worst danger is a house on fire when people are asleep. Always be ready to leave through a window into the garden by making sure you can open it if necessary. If you should be on holiday in a tall building or hotel, make sure you know where the fire escape is . When you can't find any way out, try to find pieces of cloth and make a rope to get out of a window to safety. If you smell burning in your home, get out right away. If you can't breathe properly because of smoke on your way out, crawl on your hands and knees because smoke rises and the air will be cleaner near the floor. Smoke is a killer and more people have died from breathing it in than actually being burnt. Fire in a cinema, hall or public place often means people pushing to reach a door. Keep your head up with arms up in front of your chest .This protects your chest and gives you the best chance to breathe. Above all, don't get frightened! In a room filled with smoke ,you'd better crawl on the floor because _ . A. you won't get burnt. B. the floor is cleaner C. there is less smoke near the floor D. you won't breathe any smoke Answer: C Question: In the early hours of March 8, a Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Its destination was Beijing. But for unknown reasons, it never arrived there. There were 239 people on the Malaysia Airlines flight, including 154 Chinese. As of March 13, 12 different countries, including Malaysia, China, Vietnam and the US, were searching for the plane. The disappearance is an "aviation mystery", Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the head of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority, said on March 10.There was no clear sign of a crash by March 13. Between 1-2 hours after takeoff, the plane suddenly lost contact with people on the ground. The weather was clear, and the pilots didn't make any calls . No evidence was found in the area where the flight last made contact. People are also talking about a possible hijacking . International police agency Interpol confirmed on March 9 that at least two passengers on the flight had used stolen passports to get on board. "We are looking at all possibilities," said Malaysian Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein. The incident is now being called simply a "plane disappearance". So, what are some possible causes of a plane disappearance? An AP story provided a summary. 1. A failure of the plane's body or its engines. However, even if both engines stopped working, the plane could still glide for up to 20 minutes, giving pilots time to make an emergency call. 2. Bad weather. Planes are designed to fly through most severe storms. However, in June 2009, an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed during a bad storm over the Atlantic Ocean. 3. A bomb. Throughout history, several planes have been brought down by bombs. 4. An accidental shoot-down by some country's military. In July 1988, the US Navy accidentally shot down an Iran Air flight. In September 1983, a Korean Air Lines flight was shot down by a Russian fighter jet. No matter how unlikely a situation, it's too early to determine what really happened to MH370. It could take months, if not years, to _ any possibilities, say experts.. What could be the best title of the passage? A. An Air Crash B. The Causes of the Disappearance C. The Disappearance of MH 370 D. An Aviation Mystery Answer: C Question: In the near future, we may be using our eyes to operate our smartphones and tablets, even when it comes to playing popular games like Fruit Ninja. The GazeGroup has been developing eye-controlled computer technology for nearly 20 years. But those devices have been mainly designed to aid those with disabilities, and are very expensive. "After a while, we figured out that probably the best way is to go for a mass-market approach," says Gaze's Sune Alstrup Johansen, "where everybody would have this available." Johansen and some of his colleagues have formed a new company, The Eye Tribe, which is hoping to develop the technology on a mass commercial level. The technology works by sending an infrared light from the computing device toward the user's face. After measuring the user's eye movements, the technology is then able to easily know where a person's eyes are moving, allowing the eyes to control a cursor . A software can determine the location of the eyes and tell where the user is looking on the screen. It even knows which image he is looking at. There has been a gradual change toward hands-free technology in recent years, particularly in the gaming world. Following Nintendo's popular Wii system, Xbox released the Kinect device, which lets users control their Xbox and play certain games using only their hands, legs and voices. Since most smartphones and other mobile devices can't come standard with an infrared device, Johansen said a replaceable filter would be an inexpensive, convenient choice for most consumers. And even as companies like The Eye Tribe work to create a commercially practical product for the average user, making the eye-controlled technology more accessible and less expensive will have similar benefits for disabled users. "Then I can go to any computer, and then I can control it and I can use it, instead of just bringing my own," said Stig Langvad, who heads up Denmark's umbrella organization for people with disabilities. "So I'll be a part of society on an equal foot, instead of being a special solution." In order to use eyes to operate their mobile phones, most users should buy _ . A. a replaceable filter B. the Kinect device C. Wii system D. Fruit Ninja Answer: A Question: The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made big steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that 80 percent of all human illness are connected with diet and 40 percent of cancer is connected with the diet. Therefore, that food is connected with illness is not a new discovery. In 1940's scientists realized that nitrates , which are often used to keep color1 of meat, and other additives caused cancer. However these additives remain in our food and it becomes more difficult to know which additives are helpful or harmful. Farmers sometimes give drugs to animals not because the animals are ill but because they want to sell the animals at higher prices. For example, farmers try hard to make animals grow big so that they can sell the big animals for more money. Although the Food and Drug Administration has tried again and again to control farmers to do so, farmers go on doing this. According to the passage, what has science done to mankind? A. Because of science there is no polluted food any more. B. Science makes food have less value. C. As a result of scientific invention, some things that may be harmful have been added to our food. D. Now the scientists can keep the color1 of meat but not that of vegetable. Answer: C Question: The Internet is becoming important in our life. How much do you know about it? The following questions and their answers will help you to know more about the Internet. What is the Internet? The Internet is a large, world-wide collection of computer networks . A network is a small group of computers put together. The Internet is many different kinds of networks from all over the world. These networks are called the Internet. If you have learned to use the Internet, you can have a lot of interest on the World Wide Web . What is the World Wide Web? The World Wide Web has been the most popular development of the Internet. It is like a big electronic book with millions of pages. These pages are called homepages. You can find information about almost anything in the world on these pages. For example, you can use the Internet instead of a library to find information for your homework. You can also find information about your favourite sport or film star, talk to your friends or even do some shopping on the pages. Most pages have words, pictures and even sound or music. What is e-mail? Electronic mail (e-mail) is a way of sending messages to other people. It's much quicker and cheaper than sending a letter. If you want to use e-mail, you must have an e-mail address. This address must have letters and dots and an @ (means "at"). For example: Lily @ Yahoo.com. Write a message, type a person's e-mail address, and then send the message across the Internet. People don't need to use stamps, envelopes or go to the post office because of the invention of the Internet. Quick, easy and interesting -- that's the Internet. People like to use e-mail to send messages to their friends because _ . A. they don't have to pay any money B. it's faster and cheaper C. they don't need to have stamps, envelopes or addresses D. it's interesting Answer: B
Question: Beijing, January 25 ( Xinhuanet)--Air Canada announced that effective June 2, 2005 it will introduce non--stop service between Toronto and Beijing, further building its main Toronto hub with more non-stop flights to Asia and creating the first--ever direct link between eastern Canada and the Chinese mainland. Air Canada will operate four non-stop flights per week from Toronto to the Chinese capital of Beijing, complementing its daily non-stop flights to Beijing and Shanghai from Vancouver, and twice daily Hong Kong flights including a new non--stop service from Toronto. In addition, in response to increased demand on its Vancouver--Shanghai route, Air Canada will replace its 189-seat Boeing 767-300ER service with larger 282-seat A340-300 aircraft during the demand season beginning June 1,2005. With these new services, Air Canada is boosting seating capacity between Canada and China by 16 percent and providing freight forwarders with 45 percent more cargo tonnage( ) from one year ago. "China is the fastest growing aviation( )market in the world, and Air Canada's global network is well positioned to meet the needs of international travelers and freight senders," said Duncan Dee, senior vice president of Air Canada. "With the introduction of the first non-stop service to Beijing from our main Toronto hub, Air Canada is bringing the Americas that much closer to the Chinese mainland." According to this passage, Air Canada will take measures except that _ . A. it will introduce non-stop service between Toronto and Beijing. B. It will replace its 189--seat Boeing 767-300ER service with 282-seat A340-300 aircraft forever. C. It will increase the capacity of cargo tonnage. D. It will increase the number of flights. Answer: B Question: Probably you have seen photographs of the Grand Canyon , the great valley in the desert country of Arizona. But you must go there yourself to feel its true size and beauty. Tie Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. The Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon over mil lions of years. Slowly, the river cut down through hard rock. At the same time. the land was rising. Today. the canyon is one and a half kilometres deep and 445 kilometres long. The el dest rocks at the bottom of the canyon are more than 1 billion years old. The width varies from about 200 metres to 29 kilo metres across. The rim or top of the canyon is about 2, 300 metres above sea level tin the South Rim, and about 3,000 metres on the other side, the North Rink As a result, there are different kinds of plants and animals on opposite sides of the canyon. The South Run is dry desert country. The North Rim has tall forests. The canyon looks different at different times of day. and in different seasons and weather. At sunrise anti sunset the red. gold, brown, and orange colours of the rocks are especially dear and bright. In winter, the canyon is partly covered with snow. The view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is the best. Most visitors come to the South Rim and stay in camp- grounds or hotels. Every point along the canyon' s edge offers a different view. The North Rim of the Canyon is quieter, h takes all day to drive there from the South Rim because there is only one bridge across the Colorado River. On the way, you go through Navado Indian lands, and a colourful pink desert called "The Painted Desert". You can walk clown into the Grand Canyon, or you can go down oil the back of a mule . You can also lake a boat trip down the Colorado River, and camp on the bea ches at night. But whether you see the Grand Canyon from the top or the honom, it will be an experience that you will never forget. If you go to visit the canyon you'd better go to _ . A. the South Rim B. the North Rim C. the bottom D. the top of a tree Answer: A Question: Believe it or not, there is always something nice to do on weekends. If you take some time to think about your weekends and plan them carefully, they may become more exciting, refreshing and as a result more rewarding. Throughout weekends, you can join in endless activities. You may attend a weekend course to increase your knowledge, for example, listen to a lecture on ancient Egypt. You may also try various activities, such as short countryside trip, or you may want to go skiing on a cold winter weekend. You may invite your best friend to a picnic, tell each other jokes and enjoy each other's company or you may invite more friends to your weekend party and have one another give a talent show. You can help out in a local library or nursing home and do some voluntary jobs. You can go to a sports ground or amusement centre to play various ball games and others. You may do weekend shopping alone or with somebody. Whatever you do, I hope you have a good weekend. According to the passage one can go to _ as a volunteer. A. a nursing home B. a sports ground C. a big company D. a shopping centre Answer: A Question: These days, more and more young people wish to be more beautiful, So they turn to plastic surgery ( ) for help. They spend thousands of yuan on these painful surgeries to fix their nose, to fix their eyes or to be thinner. In fact, most people are not happy about the way they look. Even the most beautiful actresses often wish they could fix something about their looks.So we should believe that we are as beautiful as others. A smile is beautiful on any face, being kind is much more beautiful than a pretty look. So, let's feel happy that we all have beautiful and healthy bodies that do not need surgeries! Today, I wish you to make a small _ believe yourself! smile and be kind to others. If you do these, you will be happy, beautiful, and popular everywhere you go. How can you feel good according to the writer? A. Believe yourself B. Smile C. Be kind D. A,BandC Answer: D Question: Many people who are overweight have poor digestion . For the most part, poor digestion is not a habit given by our parents. We give it to ourselves through the way we eat. Oh, poor digestion can lead to weight problems. Here's how: When a person feels stressed, the part of the central nervous system that connects digestion switches off. This is called the parasympathetic nervous system . At those times of stress, the body can take in food and process some of it, but digestion doesn't work correctly to digest all the nutritional goodness from the food. Poor digestion is not always obvious by observing symptoms; you can get some illnesses but not always. Poor digestion can be seemingly silent. If you eat when you are stressed, anxious, or nervous, you might as well be eating cardboard for all the nutrients your body gets. Yes, eating when stressed is a gaining situation. Now you might think, well, if I'm not digesting, the calories aren't getting handles, so I should be losing weight. Good idea, but wrong reality. When digestion is not proper, the body starts "starving" from lack of necessary nutrients . Yes, it goes into a starvation problem and starts absorbing fat and energy. It thinks it's in a famine . The good news is that it's easy to make some corrections and get rid of stress at mealtimes. If you feel stressed often, it can be helpful to take other food that contains multiple B vitamins. These help, but you could still find yourself stressed at mealtimes. Which is NOT the reason why people may have weight problems when eating with stress? A. The body does not take in what they eat. B. The digestion system becomes incorrect. C. People cannot eat much when unhappy. D. The body will begin to absorb too much fat. Answer: C
I knew I was all right now. Nobody else would come ahunting after me. I got my traps out of the canoe and made me a nice camp in the thick woods. I made a tent out of my blankets to put my things under so the rain couldn't get at them. I caught a catfish and towards sundown I started my camp fire and had supper. When it was dark I sat by my camp fire, feeling pretty satisfied; but by and by it got sort of lonesome, so I went and sat on the bank and listened to the current crashing along, and counted the stars and drift logs and rafts that came down, and then went to bed; there was no better way to when you are lonesome; you can't stay so, and you soon get it over. And so for three days and nights. No difference--just the same thing. But the next day I went exploring around the island. I was boss of it; it all belonged to me, and I wanted to know all about it; but mainly I wanted to spend the time. I found plenty of strawberries and green summer grapes; and the green blackberries were just beginning to show. Well, I went fooling along in the deep woods till I judged I wasn't far from the foot of the island. I had my gun along, but I had shot nothing; it was for protection. About this time I almost stepped on a goodsized snake, and it moved quietly and smoothly through the grass and flowers, and I was after it, trying to get a shot at it. I clipped along, and all of a sudden I bounded right on to the ashes of a camp fire that was still smoking. My heart jumped up among my lungs. I never waited to look further, but unlocked my gun and went sneaking back on my tiptoes as fast as I could. Every now and then I stopped a second among the thick leaves and listened, but my breath came so hard that I couldn't hear anything else. I moved quietly along another piece further, then listened again; and so on. If I saw a stump , I took it for a man; if I stepped on a stick and broke it, it made me feel that a person had cut one of my breaths in two and I only got half, and the short half, too. Why did the boy always carry his gun with him wherever he went? Answer: To protect himself. What is your favorite color? Do you like yellow, orange, and red? If you do, you must be an optimist , a leader, an active person who enjoys life, people and excitement. Do you prefer grays and blues? Then you are probably quiet, shy and you would rather follow than lead. If you love green, you are strong-minded and determined. You wish to succeed and want other people to see you are successful. At least this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of color preference , and the effect that colors have on human beings. They tell us that we don't choose our favorite color as we grow up. If you happen to love brown, you did so as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly. A yellow room makes us feel more cheerful and more comfortable than a dark green one, and a red dress rings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day. On the other hand, black is depressing . Light and bright colors make people not only happier but more active. It is a fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or dark gray. Remember, then, that if you feel low, you can always brighten your day or your life with a new shirt or a few colorful things. Remember also that you will know your friends and your enemies better when you find out what colors they like and dislike. And don't forget that anyone can guess a lot about your character when you choose a piece of handkerchief. According to this passage, _ . Answer: one is born with his color preference The purpose of students who come to school is to study.But studying needs right ways,or we would waste the time or the money.The followings are ways for studying. The best time for reading is morning.Because in the morning,the air is fresh and our minds are clear.For that reason,we can get good results. When we study we must be patient.If we don't understand a text well,we must read it again.We should not read the next until we have learned the first one well. When we are studying,we must put our hearts into the book.We cannot read absent-mindedly ,or we could get nothing from the book while we are reading. We must always ask"why".If we can't understand well,write it down and ask our teachers or parents,brothers or friends,in some possible ways.We must know it completely and then our knowledge can be used well. Though there are many ways for studying,however,the above mentioned will be helpful if we can keep them in heart. If we don't understand a text well, _ . Answer: we should read it again till understand it Everyone, please imagine, a big explosion breaks out as the plane takes us high in the sky. The plane is full of smoke and the engine sounds scary. Two minutes later, the engines are turned off. We are now sitting in a plane with no sound. And we can see: Life is over. That really happened. In January 2009, I had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York. Now let me tell you the three things I learned when the silence came. First, I thought about all the people I wanted to reach out to but didn't. I thought about all the experiences I wanted to have but never did. I no longer wanted to put off anything in life. Second, I really regretted the time I wasted on things that did not matter. I decided to remove negative energy from my life. Third, I realized, wow, dying was not scary. But it was very sad just because I only wished I could have seen my kids grow up. Fortunately, I was given the gift of a miracle of not dying that day. I was given another gift, with which I was to see into the future and come back and live differently. About a month later, my wife and I were at a performance by my daughter, not much artistic talent. Yet, I'm crying. I realized that above all, the only goal in my life was to be a good father. Audience, again, imagine the same thing happening on your plane. How would you change? What would you get done? And more than anything, are you being the best parent you can? Thank you. What is the author's final goal in life? Answer: To be a good father. Norah had a cottage on a cliff above a big bay. In winter it could be very unpleasant because of strong winds and sea waves. In fact, when a _ was blowing, Norah and her husband got used to sleeping in a small room downstairs, because their bedroom upstairs, which faced the gales, had a very big window, and they were afraid that an extra violent wind might break it and blow pieces of broken glass over them. Also, the salt wave from the sea put an end to many of the colorful plants Norah planted in her garden. She tried putting up a fence to protect them, but the wind just hit it, went up over the top and then down the other side, so in the end she filled the garden with trees and bushes that liked salt. But most of the summer Norah enjoyed her cottage and garden very much. At weekends she could sit out-of-doors in the sun, looking at the beautiful view, with interesting ships and boats passing by, and she could very easily cycle down to the sea for a swim. Now, Norah and her husband had plenty of friends and relations. In the summer lots of them used to come to enjoy the beautiful place, and in the end it really became quite annoying for the couple. When they were at home, they found friends and relations arriving, expecting to be given unlimited drinks and meals, and to sit in the sun for hours, talking as if Norah and her husband had nothing else to do but entertain and listen to them. This went on for several years. Norah didn't wish to appear rude by refusing to let her friends and relations in, but on the other hand, she was getting tired every summer. Then one day Norah was complaining about this to her hairdresser while she was doing her hair. "You're disturbed by too many uninvited guests, are you?" said the hairdresser. "Why don't you try my way of escaping?" "What's that?" asked Norah. "Well," the hairdresser answered, "when the bell rings, I put on my coat and take my shopping bag. If it's someone I don't want to see, I say innocently, 'I'm sorry, but I've got to go out.' But..." We can infer that _ . Answer: few friends came to visit them in winter
If you had billions of dollars,would you give away almost all of it to charity ?Well that's what Mark Zuckerberg,CEO and founder of Facebook,just said he would do.Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan promised to give 99 percent of their money to society.Right now that is about $45 billion(289 billion yuan),and they plan to give away the money to things like science and education. Many billionaires have done similar things,for example,Bill Gates.But giving back and helping others isn't just for big billionaires.People like Zuckerberg and Gates may have more to give,but people with less are doing it too.Especially around the holidays,people want to do their part and give back to people who are less lucky than them.Schools may have food collections where people bring some food and together they can give away some other things to places like homeless centers. People also host special events like concerts or runs to be creative while raising money.Common people give away whatever they can to US charities like the United Way and the American Red Cross. Then these charities are able to help the poor in different ways like education,health and improving their lives.These things come together to make a big difference. What can we learn from the story? Answer: Rachel purchased a kit for making a skateboard ramp. Which of the following is most important to have for putting the ramp together? Answer: Many television programmes are very realistic. One who watches TV often feels that whatever happened in the film could well happen to him. With only a little imagination, every man in the street becomes a thief, a spy or a murderer. Jane had been watching a spy film at her friend's house. In it, a young girl had been followed and murdered. She felt a little frightened, walking to the station. She took a train back to the centre of the city. There were a lot of people traveling with her, so she felt much safer. A man sitting opposite her, reading a newspaper, glanced at her. She thought nothing of it until she saw him staring at her. Remember the film and feeling very uncomfortable, she got off the train and went to the bus stop. When he got on the same bus as she did, she found that he was following her. As long as she had been with other people she wasn't frightened. But when she got off the bus, the streets were almost empty. She walked as quickly as she could. She could hear footsteps following her but she didn't dare to look around. After what seemed to have been hours, she was unable to find them, because she was so frightened. The footsteps stopped behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Instead of feeling hands round her neck, however, she heard a pleasant voice. "I apologize if I frightened you. I'm your new neighbour. I thought I recognized you in the train, but I wasn't sure." A girl will be frightened if _ . Answer: A little girl walked to and from school every day. Though it was not fine and clouds appeared in the sky that morning, the little girl made her daily trip to school as usual. When school was over, winds became stronger and it began to rain. The mother of the little girl felt worried that her daughter would be afraid when she walked home from school and that lightning might frighten her child. Following the bright light of lightning, the mother quickly got into her car and drove to her child's school. As the mother drove along the road, she saw her little girl walking alone in the rain.To her great surprise, she found that when a lightning came, her daughter stopped, looked up and smiled. Another lightning came and then another followed. With each lightning, the little girl stopped, looked up and smiled. Inside the car, the mother asked her daughter, "What were you doing? Why did you look up and smile when the lightning came?" The little girl answered with a smile, "Mum, you know, God was looking at me. Each time I felt a little afraid walking in the rain, God would take a picture of me. I knew he was playing a game with me." This passage is possibly from _ . Answer: These days, it's easy to fly across oceans for vacation. Centuries ago, however, crossing the open seas required thorough and accurate planning, handmade boats, and courage. Scientists and historians have long been looking for clues to explain who crossed which oceans first. When it comes to the trip between Polynesia and South America, chickens may have been among the first ocean voyagers, according to new evidence. After studying an ancient chicken bone, anthropologists from the University of Auckland in New Zealand now say that people and chickens traveled from Polynesia to what is now Chile by about 620 years ago. By then, the Inca people were already living in South America, but the Polynesians would have been the first to get there by sea. Previous theories claimed that European explorers and their chickens sailed to South America first -- but those voyagers didn't arrive until about a century later. In 2002, archaeologists dug up 50 chicken bones from a site in Chile called El Arenal. The team from New Zealand analyzed one to these bones. According to their calculations, the bone is about 650 years old. The researchers also compared the genetic material, or DNA, from the South American chicken bone with DNA from 11 chicken bones that had been found on the Polynesian islands of Tonga and American Samoa. These islands are 6,000 miles west of Chile. The bones found on the Polynesian islands are been 600 and 2,000 years old. Results of the comparisons showed that the chicken bones from both the Polynesian and South American sites had part of DNA in common. The researchers found the same part of DNA in feathers of two living chickens in Chile that belong to a modem breed that lays blue eggs. That DNA evidence suggests a close relationship among the chickens. "However, the weight of scientific evidence is now behind the hypothesis that it was seafaring ( ) Polynesians who sailed from the islands to South America and returned," says archaeologist Patrick V. Kirch of the University of California, Berkeley. What is the passage mainly about? Answer:
Question: How many times have you heard the expression that most people spend more time planning their vacation than they do planning their lives. I would explain that expression by adding that most people spend more time "thinking" about their vacation than they do thinking about what's important in their life. While rest and relaxation are a must in living a balanced life, it's not what we were created to do. After all, the Master Creator took his R&R (Rest and Recreation) on the seventh day, only after six days of "definitely directed thought." 1 My friend Mike Litman wrote an article this week. 2It's called "The Millionaire Composite" and it analyzes one of the big differences between super-successful people and everyone else. He wrote "I recently visited a Real Estate Multi Millionaire Mogul. What did I see next to his desk? His vision statement, along with a list of what he values in life-handwritten." "A few months back, I interviewed an individual Marco Dorigo who sold over a billion dollars worth of products on television. He told me that he read his life and business vision and goals daily, and that he took time to imagine exactly what he wanted to create each night before falling asleep." What is your life's purpose or your personal task statement? Is it written down? Do you review it and think about it often? 3Is your life organized around your purpose and a set of goals that support that purpose? Without purpose and goals - certainly directed thought-you are like "ship without a rudder. " There is power in your purpose and in your goals.4 One of my favorite passages of James Allen is one he wrote in The Mastery of Destiny: "All successful people are people of purpose. They hold fast to an idea, a project, a plan, and will not let it go; they treasure it and develop it; and when upset by difficulties, they refuse to give in; the greater the difficulties are, the stronger the purpose is. " And that's worth thinking about. The supporting sentence "It is the power that helps you out of difficulties, the fuel that drives you toward the life you want." should be placed at_. A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 Answer: D Question: Bob, Jim and Alice are good friends. They all study in the same class in Red Star Middle School. The weekend is coming and the weather is going to be sunny and warm. Now they are talking about their plans. Bob is going to the hospital on Saturday. It is not far from his house, so he wants to go there by bike. He is going to visit a sick boy called Ben in the hospital. He wants to make Ben happy and give him some interesting storybooks. He is going to stay there for the whole day. Jim is going to ride to Great Zoo with his father on Sunday. He wants to see the pandas, tigers, lions and elephants. He wants to stay there for the whole day. On Saturday, Alice is going to the Green Park with her friends on foot. She is going fishing by the lake, going boating on the river and playing on the slide . She plans to stay there for the whole afternoon. Who is going to the hospital? A. Bob B. Jim C. Alice D. Ben Answer: A Question: Steven is six years old. He gets some money from his mother every week. He buys a lot of things from the shops, but he doesn't really need them, and he puts them everywhere. One day his mother gives him a notebook and says, "Now, Steven, when you buy things, write their names down in the notebook, and also write down how much they are. Then you can look at it again when your money is all gone , and you don't waste so much money next time." After a week, Steven says to his mother, "Do you know, Mum, before I spend any money now, I really stop and think!" His mother is very happy and thinks, "Well, my son knows the value of money now." But then she hears him say, "Mum, before I buy something, I always ask myself, 'Can I spell that word and put it down in my notebook?' " What does Steven stop to think about before he spends any money? A. Which to buy. B. What he really needs. C. Which is nice. D. How to spell the name of the thing. Answer: D Question: A boy who was cleaning shoes in the street said to a young man passing by, "Let me clean your shoes." The young man said, "No, thank you." "You may pay me only a pound, sir," said the boy. But the young man refused again. Then the boy told him that he would clean his shoes for nothing. The young man agreed to this, and soon one of his shoes was shining brightly. The man put the other shoe on the boy, but the boy refused to clean it unless he was paid two pounds for his work. The young man refused to pay anything and went away. But the dirty one looked so bad that he couldn't walk away. He had to turn back and gave the boy two pounds. In a very short time his shoes shone brightly. Then the young man agreed to clean his shoes, because the boy asked for _ . A. two pounds B. one pound C. nothing D. few money Answer: C Question: My first performance in front of an audience was coming up soon. I tried as hard as I could to remain calm, but my heart was racing. I stared down at my sweat-covered, shaking hands. I looked up again at the audience, realizing that these were real people. They were not just my mum and dad, who would say, "Good job!" even if I messed up the entire piece. What if I had the wrong music? What if I played the wrong notes? As it turned out, I was never able to answer these questions because the spotlight was waiting for me. I grasped my hands tightly together, drying off the sweat. Slowly I walked to the mud-brown piano in the center of the room. It contained 88 demanding keys, which were waiting impatiently to be played. I swallowed the golf-ball-sized lump in my throat and sat down. Slowly, I opened the music. Next, I rested my still shaking hands on the ivory keys. As my fingers played across the keys, I was becoming more unsure of my preparation for this moment. But the memory of my years of training came flooding back. I knew that I had practiced this piece so many times that I could play it backwards if requested. Although at one point I accidentally played two keys instead of the intended one, I continued to move my fingers automatically . My eyes burned holes into (were fixed on) the pages in front of me. There was no way that I was going to lose my concentration. To keep this to myself, I leaned forward and focused carefully on the music. When I came to the end of the page, a warning went off inside my head: DON'T MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN YOU TURN THE PAGE! Needless to say, I obeyed myself with all my heart and mind. And, proud of my "page-turning" feat , I finished the rest of the piece without making a single mistake. After the final note died away, a celebration went into action inside my head. I had finished. I had mastered the impossible. What did the author feel about her performance? A. She thought it was comfortable and successful. B. She thought it was very difficult but successful. C. She thought she had never made a mistake during the performance. D. She thought she played through the piece carefully but light-heartedly. Answer: B
A new Canada Prize for the Arts and Creativity could be in place by 2010, with large cash prizes for emerging artists in dance, music, theatre and visual arts. The prize is the idea of Tony Gagliano and David Pecaut, founders of the Luminato festival,who were able to convince the federal government to back it. The federal budget has allocated $25 million to support the awards open to emerging artists. The aim is to create a prize that has the prestige of a Nobel Prize. "When you think about the major prizes of the world ---- the Nobel Prize in Sweden,the Kyoto prizes in Japan or the Booker Prize in the U.K . --- they bring great honor and opportunity to the countries that award them," Pecaut said."The idea here is that every year,the Canada prizes will be awarded to the very best promising emerging artists around the world in those four fields. " A jury of international experts would judge the 12 finalists,who would come to Canada and perform or show their work in public to win the Canada prizes.The performances would be televised, allowing Canadians across the country to see it. The federal government liked the idea of such an international prize that would advance Canada's brand,draw tourists and arts professionals from around the world.For the Canadian arts community, one of the greatest challenges is connecting to that international arts world to come up with co-productions and foreign investment and touring chances. A group is working toward establishing the prize by 2010,with potential for semi-final rounds to take place about the same time as the Vancouver Olympic Games."Thirty or forty years from now,the future outstanding dancers and performers will look back and say, 'I broke out on the world scene in Toronto -- that's where I was discovered.' " Those participating in the final round of the new Canada Prize _ . Answer: will have their performances broadcast on the TV A young man and a young girl get married . The man has much money, and he likes reading very much in his spare time. The woman is very beautiful, but she doesn't have anything to do because the servant does everything for her every day. She isn't happy, either. Do you know the reason? Her _ is busy reading his books and has no time to stay with her every day. One day, she says to her husband: "I would like to be a book!" "Why, dear?" the husband asks. "Then you will love to read me very much" "But I don't think so, dear. After I read one book, I usually read the next one soon," the husband answers. The young man is _ . Answer: rich Learning How to Learn $ 24.99 Children who read this book show great interest in study. Many pictures will help understand it easily and quickly. Basic Study Manual $ 38.50 Read this book and learn: What the three barriers to study are and what to do about them. What to do if you are fed up with a subject. Children read it to improve the ability to study. How to Use a Dictionary Picture Book for Children $ 35.00 Read this book and learn: How to find words in a dictionary. What the different marks in a dictionary mean. How to use a dictionary to pronounce words correctly. Buy this book and help children unlock their education. What's more, you'll just pay 50% for it before July 1, 2006. According to the ads, these three books are for _ . Answer: children A little old man and his wife walked slowly into McDonald's on a cold winter evening. They took a table near the back wall, and then the little old man walked to the cash register to order. After a while he got the food back and they began to open it. There was one hamburger, some French fries and one drink. The little old man carefully cut the hamburger in half and divided the French fries in two piles. Then he neatly put the half of the food in front of his wife. He took a sip of the drink and his wife _ . "how poor the old people are!" the people around them thought. As the man began to eat his hamburger and his French fries, his wife sat there watching him and took turns to drink. A young man came over and offered to buy another meal for them. But they refused politely and said that they got used to sharing everything. Then a young lady asked a question of the little old lady. " Madam, why aren't you eating? You said that you share everything, then what are you waiting for?" She answered, "The teeth." What did they do after they opened the food? Answer: They shared the food. Macao is only forty miles from Hong Kong and it is easy to reach. You can get there by sea. It is an interesting place and it had a long history. Macao is part of China and most people living there are Chinese. The first Europeans to go to Macao came from Portugal . More than four hundred years ago the Portuguese went there to trade with China. Some settled and made their homes there. They built strong forts(,) to guard the city and the harbor. They also built churches, schools, hospitals and other places. Slowly the city grew. People from many countries came to live and work in Macao. Today many people visit Macao. Some only go there to watch dog-racing or motor-racing or to gamble with their money. But Macao is a quiet and peaceful place. It is pleasant just to walk around and look at old buildings and forts. You feel you are back in the old days. Of course, some of the buildings are now in ruins. The Church of St. Paul has only the front wall with many steps leading up to it. But it is still interesting to see. When you are hot and tired, there are small cool gardens to rest in. when you are hungry, there are good restaurants with many kinds of food. Nearby there are some islands, which are also nice and are easy to get to. There is certainly a lot to do in Macao. You feel in Macao you are back in the old days because _ . Answer: you can go about to see the old buildings and forts
Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Internet forum asking what "PK" meant. "My family has been watching the 'I Am the Singer' singing competition TV programme. My little daughter asked me what 'PK' meant, but I had no idea," explained the puzzled father. To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online, it is impossible not to know this term. In such Internet games, "PK" is short for "Player Kill", in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other. In the case of the "I Am the Singer" singing competition, "PK" was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition raking. Like this father, Chinese teachers at Middle schools have also been finding their students using _ which are difficult to understand. A teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write the compositions with simple language, but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn't understand. "My 'GG' came back this summer from college. He told me I've grown up to be a 'PLMM'. I loved to 'FB' with him together; he always took me to the 'KPM'," went one composition. "GG" means Ge Ge (Chinese pinyin for brother). "PLMM" is Piao Liang Mei Mei (beautiful girl)."FB" means Fu Bai (corruption)."KPM" is short for KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald's. Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language. If you do not even know what a Kong Long (dinosaur, meaning an ugly looking femal) or a Qing Wa (frog, meaning an ugly looking male ) is, you will possibly be regarded as a CaiNiao! What does the writer think about the word "PK"? Answer: You either have it, or you don't-- a sense of direction, that is. But why is it that some people could find their way across the Sahara without a map, while others can lose themselves in the next street? Scientists say we're all born with a sense of direction, but it is not properly understood how it works. One theory is that people with a good sense of direction have simply worked harder at developing it. Research being carried out at Liverpool University supports this idea and suggests that if we don't use it, we'll lose it. "Children as young as seven have the ability to find their way around," says Jim Martland, Research director of the project. "However, if they are not allowed out alone or are taken everywhere by car, they never develop the skills." Jim Martland also emphasizes that young people should be taught certain skills to improve their sense of direction. He makes the following suggestions: If you are using a map, turn it so it relates to the way you are facing. If you leave your bike in a strange place, put it near something like a big stone or a tree--something easy to recognize. Note landmarks on the route as you go away from your bike. When you return, go back along the same route. Simplify the way for finding your direction by using lines such as streets in a town, streams, or walls in the countryside to guide you. Count your steps so that you know how far you have gone and note any landmarks such as tower blocks or hills which can help to find out where you are. Now you will never get lost again! Scientists believe that _ . Answer: Let me tell you my pen friend Ivan. He is 12 years old. He likes playing football. He usually play football with his friends at weekends. Ivan lives with his father and mother in a city in France. They have a dream home with five rooms, a swimming pool and a garden. They often have a party in the garden at weekends. They like to help their neighbours. His home is not near his school, so Ivan takes a bus for an hour and then walks for 10 minutes to school. There is a Basketball Club near his school. He likes play basketball in the club. Ivan's father is a worker. He is busy. Ivan's mother is a doctor. She is nice to the patients. Ivan wants to be a teacher when he grows up. I want to be a teacher, too. Every month Ivan writes two letters to me. He'll come to Suqian next year. We'll meet then. Ivan studies in _ now. Answer: On Easter Day, 1722, Dutch explorers landed on Easter Island . It was the first time that Easter Islanders had met people from the outside world. The strangers were about to discover something very strange themselves --that they were on an island with hundreds of huge stone statues . The Dutch explorers wondered where the Islanders had come from and why and how they had built the statues. Now science is putting together the story. The first people to arrive on the island came there around A.D. 700. The society that developed there was based on fishing and farming to feed the population, which grew to 12,000. Its success showed itself in a way that has become the island's trademark : hundreds of huge stone figures --the moai. None of the moai was standing when scientists first arrived. People put them back up later; but how had a Stone Age society ever made, moved and set them up there in the first place? And why? There are nearly 900 moai on Easter Island, and while the questions about them remain unanswered, no one doubts the years of effort that must have gone into making them. The real killer of the Easter Islanders came from across the ocean. After 1722, it became popular for explorers to visit Easter Island, bringing diseases. The final blow came in 1862, when slave traders came from Peru and took away 1,500 people, one-third of the population. The passage implies that _ . Answer: Since 2004,Time magazine has six times made a survey to name the l00 most influential people in the world.Only one person has appeared on it for six times, Oprah Winfrey. Born in l954 in Mississippi,Oprah Winfrey spent her early years living in poverty with her grandmother and later her absent mother, followed by unfair treatment by her unfriendly relatives.Worse still,she was addicted to drugs and at the young age of l4,she gave birth to a baby, who died after a few months.Finally she was sent to live with her strict father in Tennessee. Amazingly though,her father's rules did make sure she received a good education and finally overcame her problems. Oprah's media career began at age l7.She became the co-author of local news in Baltimore in her early 20's.Her first local talk show, People Are Talking, was first performed in l978,when she was 24. In l986,Oprah moved to Chicago to host a low-rated half-hour morning talk show, AM Chicago.Oprah talks like a family member in your and my house.Within months she took over,the show became the highest-rated talk show in Chicago.It was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Only two years after hosting the show, she was able to set up her own production company Harpo, and buy the full rights to The Oprah Winfery Show.She is also involved in magazine publishing,books,education and a lifestyle channel for women with the aim of improving people's lives, inspiring and praising good honest values,making the world a better place for present and future generations. As her business grew, so did her wealth and power, and she became the first ever black billionaire in 2003 and the most powerful woman in media broadcasting.The amazing influence she has over a large part of the American public means that anything she promotes on her shows is guaranteed to succeed. Why was The Oprah Winfrey Show so popular? Answer:
The groundhog has been considered a weather prophet for many years in north America. According to legend, all winter long the furry brown groundhog sleeps in his comfortable underground home, or hole. On February 2, he wakes up. The groundhog is very hungry and comes out to search for food. If the sun is shinning, the groundhog will see his own shadow. The sight of his shadow gives him such a fright that he quickly returns to his hole. This event means that spring will not come for six more weeks. If the sun is not shining, there will be no shadow. The groundhog will not be scared and he will stay outside his hole. Spring will come very soon. The idea that animals could foretell the weather probably began in ancient Europe. At the time, most of the people were farmers and the weather was very important to them. If spring came early they could begin the planting season early and have an early harvest. They found some animals were good weather prophets. On February 2, when they celebrated Candlemas Day, a religious holiday around the time winter ends, all the people watched for an animal leaving its hole. In Germany, farmers watched for a badge. In England farmers looked for a hedgehog . They believed the animals could foretell the weather for the next six weeks. When the early settlers came to North America there no badgers or hedgehogs near their homes. The farmers did not know when to plant their crops. In time they discovered an animal that left its hole at the end of winter. That animal was the groundhog, also called a woodchuck or a marmot. Every February 2 they watched for a groundhog. Finally, the day came to be called "Groundhog Day". Many groundhog-watching clubs were formed. The members sometimes dressed in nightshirts and top hats made of silk. They would go to the hills in the dark morning and wait near a groundhog hole. Sometimes the groundhog-watching clubs would have other types of celebrations Why did ancient Europeans watch for animals on Candlemas Day? To know when to plant crops. As we all know, it was Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of the Independence. He wrote it in two weeks, and after a few changes, it was accepted by the Congress. As a result, he became famous. Born in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, a brilliant student at school and almost talented lawyer later, was much interested in politics. Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia in 1779, and he was sent to France as the representative of the American government in 1784. Sixteen years later, at the age of 57, he was elected president after Washington and Adams. Far from a handsome man, he was tall with long arms and big hands. Jefferson, who was an amusing talker in conversation but a poor speaker, was generally good-natured. Jefferson was regarded as a defender of freedom on America. As a president, he protected the right of free speech. Interestingly enough, in his eight years as President, Jefferson never vetoed a bill which Congress had passed. He did a lot in organizing the new University of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson died on July the fourth, 1826, the 50th anniversary of American Independence. Which of the following statements is true? Jefferson was an amusing talker, but not good at speaking in public. "Everything happens for the best," my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. "If you can carry on, one day something good will happen." After graduating from college in 1932, I decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to sports announcer . I took the bus to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station. But I was refused every time. In one studio, a nice lady told me that big stations didn't want to accept inexperienced persons. "Go to the countryside and find a small station that'll give you a chance," she said. I returned home, Dixon in Illinois. While there were no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father said Smith Ward had opened a store and wanted a local sportsman to manage its sports department. Since I had played high school football in Dixon, I applied . The job sounded just right for me. But I still failed in the interview. At that moment, mom's words came to my mind: "Everything happens for the best." Dad offered me a car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport in Iowa. The program director, named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer. As I left his office, I felt sad. I asked aloud, "How can a man become a sports announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?" I was waiting for the lift when I heard MacArthur calling, "What did you say about sports? Do you know anything about football?" Then he made me stand before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary game. As a result, I did a wonderful job and was told to broadcast Saturday's game! On my way home, I thought of my mother's words again: "Everything happens for the best if you carry on. One day something good will happen." Which sentence below is TRUE? In all, the writer went to three cities to look for the job. "What is success"? Mr. Black asked his 6th grade business class. It was his opening conversation for the first class of the term. "Success is riding in a sweet car, watching an 80-inch( TV, and living in a place with at least twelve rooms." One student answered, earning laughs from all the students. Mr. Black smiled, but shook his head. "Tom, that is excess . That is not success." "How about being able to provide for your family?" A blonde girl named Sandy in the front suggested as an answer. "Now we're getting closer," Mr. Black smiled, "but try thinking about what you need and what you want." "Getting everything you want." Tom shouted out an answer again, trying for more laughs. Mr. Black sighed ." I believe we've already talked about excess versus(...) success." "Getting everything you need, but some of what you want?" James, sitting in the back wondered aloud. "Quite right!" Mr. Black clapped. "Success is getting everything you need and some of what you want. The more you get that you want, the more successful you are. You do reach a point where you are living in excess, though." "What does this have to do with business?" Tom asked. It seemed if it wasn't funny, he wasn't happy. "Well, Tom, think of it this way: the point of business is to make a living to support your family. Once you have properly seen to their needs, you can then seen to getting the extras that you want." "What if I don't have a family?" he continued to be difficult. "Then you have to provide for yourself, a family of one." "He has goldfish to think about!" Peter, Tom's friend, shouted out. "Then he needs to provide for a family of one with a fishbowl." Mr. Black corrected himself. Tom nodded, satisfied with that answer. "So in the next nine weeks, we're going to study basic business situations, like having a checking account and understanding credit cards ." Tom rubbed his hands together excitedly. "When do we get to start spending?" "You already are, Tom. You're spending time with us!" Mr. Black laughed. "Now, let's see what you guys know about credit cards..." Which student didn't seem to be taking the class seriously? Tom When I walk through the streets, I pass strange rooms where people are doing strange things. Some are biking madly. Others are holding metal bars to keep them from dropping down. Still others are jumping around while someone is shouting at them. It looks like something out of Dante's Inferno (<<>> <<>> ). But what is the most amazing is that people pay for these sufferings! The strange rooms are gyms. It is reported that some 41 million Americans are gym members. 12% of the memberships are born in January, as they are determined to knock off the holiday fat. Maybe it is good to exercise in the gym. However, should they know they can keep in good shape, spending little money, would they still agree with its necessity? At the age of 23, I joined a gym. I lifted weights twice a week in Muscle's Gym. I paid as little as $200 per year. You can't find such gyms in every city any more. Too often, the gym is fancy with lots of equipment. If you ask how much it costs to join it, the person at the front desk often won't tell you straight. Instead, he'll let you meet with a fitness consultant , who will provide you with a great number of reasons and suggestions, such as losing weight and getting healthier, just in order to put pressure on you to spend much money joining the gym and becoming a member there. Working out with the help of equipment at home has problems, too. In the early 2000's, I bought a spinning bike at a cost of $700 for home use. I tried a few times only to find that it brought me a neck problem. Now I'm back to my old way. I do Yoga every morning and evening. Total cost: $60 for an exercise mat . I'm enjoying fitness. The author wrote something about Muscle's Gym to _ . compare it with the gyms of today
Which of the following helps the leaves break down after they have fallen off the tree? Answer: decomposers A ship met a storm at sea and only two of the men were able to swim to a small, deserted island. Not knowing what else to do, they agreed to pray to God on opposite sides of the island. Of course, the first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit tree on his side. But there was nothing on the other man's side. Later the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more food. The next day, all of these things were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing. Finally, the first man prayed for a ship so that he could leave the island, and the next morning he found a ship. The first man decided to leave alone. As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice, "Why are you leaving your friend on island?" "My gs are mine alone, since I was the one that prayed for them," the first man answered. "His prayers were all unanswered." "You are wrong!" the voice said. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of our blessings." "Tell me", the first man asked, "what he prayed for?" "He prayed that all your prayers would be answered." For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of others' prayers for us What's the best title of the passage? Answer: A friend's prayer There are many different ways to travel to Paris from London. One of the quickest and most popular ways is by train. From Waterloo Railway station, you can travel all the way to Paris. The journey takes about three hours. The train, called the Eurostar, is very modern, and the seats are comfortable. You can also travel to France by ship. First, you go to Dover, on the coast , by bus from London. The bus stops at the Ferry Terminal Seven in Dover. You can buy your tickets there. People who travel by car can drive on to the ferry , too. Another way to travel to Paris is by plane. There are several airports with international flights to Paris and other cities in France. You can travel to London Airport by bus or underground. Some people even go by taxi but this is a very expensive way to travel! The passage mainly tells us about _ . Answer: different ways traveling from London to Paris Roald Dahl was one of the most successful writers of children's books. He sold millions of books all over the world. Many of his books have been made into films and videos. He is so famous that there is even a Roald Dahl Museum you can visit. Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Wales, Britain. His father was rich but he died when Roald was very young. Roald and his mother lived a hard life. He had to leave school and went to Africa where he worked for an oil company. In 1939 Roald became a pilot, but he had a bad accident. It made him limp for the rest of his life. After this, Roald went to America where he wrote a story about his experience as a pilot. It was so good that it was put in a magazine. Roald married an American film star. They bought a house in England and had five children. From 1960 to 1965, _ : Theo, one of his children, was hit by a taxi and was seriously hurt. Olivia, one of Roald's daughters, died of a strange illness. Soon after this, his wife also had a serious illness. It took her years to get completely better. Gradually Roald became more and more successful. He always did his writing in an old shed at the back of his house. He always sat in the same old armchair with a wooden board on his lap. _ In 1983 Roald won a big prize for his book The BFG. During his life, Roald wrote many famous books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox. After he died in 1990, Roald left money to help people with serious illnesses and those with problems with reading and writing. Roald Dahl was famous as a (an) _ . Answer: writer Beach pollution includes sewage, paper and plastic containers, and oil from boats. Which beach activity most likely increases beach pollution? Answer: eating a picnic lunch
On Web sites across the Internet, people can access a variety of information about you. It's in your interest to be aware of your online reputation and to take the necessary actions to make it what you want it to be. The first step in protecting or improving your online reputation is to find out what information is already posted on the Internet and to assess the impression it leaves on people. Follow these tips to monitor and evaluate your online reputation: Play the name game. Begin by typing your first and last name into several popular search engines to see where you are mentioned and in what context. Example: Robin Counts Focus your search. To get moreprecise results, put quotation marks around your name, so that the search engine reads your name as a phrase and not as two or more unrelated words that just happen to appear in the text. Example: "Robin Counts" Search all of your names. If you have ever used a different name, if you use your middle name or initial, if you use a nickname, or if your name is frequently misspelled, search all variations to make sure you don't miss anything important. Example: "Robin Counts" "Robin J. Counts" "Robin Counts Jensen" Be strategic. If your search turns up information about other people who share your name, you caneliminate many false hits by using keywords. You can add keywords that apply only to you; for example your city, your employer, or a hobby. Example: "Robin Counts" "Woodgrove Bank" "Robin counts"----skydiving Go blogging. If any of your friends, family members or coworkers have blogs or personal Web pages on social networking sites, check them out from time to time to see if they are writing about you or posting pictures of you. Be alert. Use the feature provided by some search engines that enables you to receive automatic notification of any new mention of your name or other personal information. You are advised to go blogging to _ . A have a better communication with your friends and family members B check out how popular you are with your friends and s C check out if others are writing about you or posting pictures of you D ask others not to disclose your personal information and picture Answer: C A gunman opened fire in Orlando's Pulse nightclub early morning Sunday , killing approximately 50 people and injuring another 53 . Clubbers were enjoying an evening at Pulse , which describes itself as " the hottest gay bar in Orlando , " when shots started to go off around 2 am. A hostage situation occurred , and didn't end until authorities used a vehicle armed to teeth to break down the door of the building and kill the gunman at around 5 am . Sunday morning's attack surpasses the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Sndy Hook Elementary School in 2012 to become the worst mass shooting in US history . Authorities have identified the shooter as 29-year-old Omar Saddiqui Mateen from Fort Pierce , about 120 miles southeast of Orlando . CNN reports Mr. Mateen was previously trained as a security guard . The federal government and FBI " have suggestions the individual has leanings towards Islamic terrorism , but right now we can't say definitely , " says Ron Hopper , assistant special agent of FBI's Orlando bureau . But Mateen's connection to Islamic terrorism has not been proven , leading authorities to also investigate the shooting as a possible hate crime against the LGBT community . The Orlando blood donation facility tweeted that the bank was in " urgent need " of donations Sunday morning following the shooting . But within hours , they announced their bank was at capacity due to the long lines of volunteers who showed up to donate . However , after the initial tweet at 10:40 Sunday morning , criticisms of the United States' stand on blood donation by the LGBT community resurfaced on social media from those who wanted to help but were prohibited due to their sexuality . " It's legal to buy an AR-15 assault rifle . It's illegal for a gay man to donate blood to victims of the massacre . The world makes no sense . " said John Barcus . ( LGBT : a community of four types of people ; lesbian , gay , bisexual , transgender .) What does John Barcus think of the law system in America ? A Strict and responsible . B Scientific and effective . C Unfair and meaningless . D Aggressive and realistic . Answer: C More than seven hundred years ago, the Prince of Wales had a very big and brave dog called Gelert. One day the Prince wanted to go hunt-ing with his men. He told his dog to stay at home and look after his baby son. The baby was in a wooden cradle, which was like a small bed. When the Prince came back from hunt-ing, Gelert ran out to meet his master. He wagged his tail and jumped up to put his paws on the Prince's chest. Then the Prince saw the blood on Gelert's jaws and head. "What have you done?" the Prince said. He rushed into his house and looked for his baby son. The cradle was lying on its side on the floor. The clothes were torn and there was blood on them. "So you have killed my son?" the Prince said angrily. "You unfaithful dog!" He took out his sword and killed the dog. Just as Gelert was dying, he managed to bark. Then the Prince heard a baby call to the dog. The Prince ran out of the house and saw his son lying on the ground unhurt. Near him was a dead wolf. Then the Prince knew that Gelert had defended the baby and killed the wolf. The Prince ran back into the house but he was too late. Gelert was dead. The Prince was very sad indeed. Tears ran down his face when he realized 'he had killed his faith-ful friend. The Prince carried the body of his brave dog to the top of a mountain and buried him there. After this, the Prince never smiled again. Every morning at dawn, he walked up the mountain and stood by the dog's grave for a few minutes. If you go to Mount Snowdon in Wales, people will show you where Gelert is buried. There is a sign by his grave. It reminds peo-ple of a brave and faithful dog. Gelert was the dog of the Prince of _ . A Scotland B England C Ireland D Wales Answer: D Welcome to my room. Open the door . You can see a desk. There are some books on the desk. My pens are on the desk, too. Behind the door there is a basketball. I love it very much. On the wall there are two pictures. Look at the boy. It's me. Where is my football? Oh! It's on the sofa . Is my computer on the desk? No , it isn't . It's next to the desk. I love my room. It's very nice , isn't it? Where is my computer? It's _ . A on the desk B on the sofa C next to the desk D next to the sofa Answer: C The leftovers in the fridge smelled a little unusual, but you ate them. You were so hungry that you didn't even heat them up. Later, you started to feel sick. Powerful waves of pain rumbled through your stomach. They went away, but not for long, then you even threw up. That sounds like the case of food poisoning. No one put poison in your food, but bacteria probably grew in the food in the fridge and those bacteria made you sick. Food poisoning can be mild and last just a short time or can be more serious. Food poisoning comes from eating foods that contain germs like bad bacteria, which are poisonous substances. Bacteria are all around us, so mild cases of food poisoning are common. You may have had mild food poisoning with diarrhea and an upset stomach --- but your mom or dad just called it a stomach bug or stomach virus. You might think the solution is to get rid of all the bacteria, but it isn't possible and you wouldn't want to do it, even if you could. Bacteria are all around us, including food, and sometimes they can be good for you. It's confusing, but one thing is for sure ---- You can, however, learn how to avoid those bad germs in food. Foods from animals, raw foods, and unwashed vegetables all can contain germs that cause food poisoning. The most likely source is food from animals, eggs, milk, and shellfish. To avoid food poisoning, people need to prepare, cook, and store foods properly. We can infer from the passage? A The solution to food poisoning is to get rid of all the bacteria. B You don't need to deal with all food poisoning seriously. C It's easy to find bacteria. D Sometimes your mom or dad don't care about you. Answer: B
Question: Almost everyone suffers from a headache occasionally. But some people suffer from repeated, frequent headaches. What is headache? What causes it? What can be done about a headache? What research is being done on headaches? The dictionary defines headache simply as "a pain in the head." What most people mean by headache is a pain which lasts several minutes or hours. It covers the whole head, or one side of it, or perhaps the front or the back of the head. To add to the confusion about a definition, some people call tight feeling in the head a headache. A headache is important because it can be the first warning of a serious condition which probably could be controlled if discovered early. If a person removes the warning, day after day, with a pain-killer, he may pass the point of easy control. The professional name for covering up a symptom is "masking" (,). A headache specialist once said, "Masking symptoms is not the best way of treatment." He compared taking a pain-killer for a headache before a cause is known with taking iron pills for anemia while bleeding continues undiscovered. He added, "Sometimes it is wiser to stand still than to advance in darkness. A headache is important also because it interferes needlessly with normal, happy living. The employee with a headache does less work. In a flash of temper he may upset his fellow workers or customers, causing a direct of indirect loss to his organization. The mother with a headache suffers and disturbs the family. She upsets her husband and children. What's the main idea of the passage? A. Specialists know what a headache is. B. What's a headache and its effect. C. Everyone suffers from a headache occasionally. D. A headache can warn you of something serious. Answer: B. What's a headache and its effect. Question: It is common to have difficulties sleeping during the day. Humans are naturally wired to sleep best at night and be awake during the day. However, modern work schedules require some people to try to accommodate the unnatural schedule of shift work -- being awake at night and sleeping during the day. In order to make this adjustment, you need to pay special attention to your sleep environment and your preparation for sleep. If shift work is a necessary part of your work life, here are some suggestions that may help. Arrange to sleep uninterrupted in a quiet, dark room. This means you may have to turn off or unplug your phone, hang darkening curtains on the windows or wear a sleep eye mask, and train your family and friends to leave you alone while you sleep. Fit in a nap . When your daytime sleep period is too short, taking a short nap of less than 30 minutes just before work or on a break has been shown to improve alertness and enhance performance. Develop and follow a sleep routine. It's best if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Try not to vary this too much on weekends. Your body likes routine. Take extra care to make healthy choices. You may be tempted to reach for unhealthy foods or nicotine to stay awake or alcohol to try to sleep. But ultimately these choices are more harmful than helpful. If you have tried all these things and are still having problems getting enough quality sleep during the day, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist. Sometimes medications may be helpful and safe. In other cases, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be addressed. We can learn from the test that _ . A. night workers need a long time to fall asleep B. constant breaks at work help to improve performance C. it is difficult to create a good sleep environment D. night work requires people to adjust their body clocks Answer: D. night work requires people to adjust their body clocks Question: What stores food for future use and is green? A. bacteria B. trout C. virus D. tree Answer: D. tree Question: In the Pacific Northwest there is a kind of owl that serves as a unique piece to the Northwest habitat -- the northern spotted owl. Northern spotted owls are known to be curious. When seeing you, these owls will come down close and check you out. The northern spotted owl has been a savior of old-growth forests. Old-growth forests are forests that have been around for a long time without significant disturbances. One way the spotted owl has become a protector of old-growth forests is simply by being there. The northern spotted owl has become endangered, and so to protect them from dying out, the government has to protect their habitat. So now any destruction of old-growth forests is illegal. Another way the owls help their habitat is by eating small animals. This helps create a balance in the forest. So, if the northern spotted owl is in a habitat that is protected by laws, why are they still endangered? Unfortunately, a cousin of the northern spotted owl has moved into its neighborhood. The bigger, more aggressive "barred owl" has grown in population and due to loss of the forests they lived in on the East Coast of the United States, they have begun to move to the west coast. These owls are taking the food source and pushing northern spotted owls out of their own home. Although the barred owl is able to live in different habitats, the northern spotted owl can only live in old-growth forests. Many government officials have been at a loss to find an answer to the difficult question, "What do we do with the non-native barred owls?" Some methods include shooting them. It is a difficult problem to deal with. Can you think of any possible solutions? Northern spotted owls are in danger mainly because of _ . A. illegal hunting B. the destruction of the forests C. another kind of owl D. environmental pollution Answer: C. another kind of owl Question: American schools begin in September after a long summer holiday. There are two terms in a school. The first term is from September to January, and the second is from February to June. Most American children begin to go to school when they are five years old. Most children are seventeen or eighteen years old when they finish high school. High school students study only four or five subjects each term. They usually go to the same class every day, and they have little homework for every class. After class they do many interesting things. After high school, many students go to college. They can go to a small one or a large one. Many college students work after class to get some money for their studies. After high school, many students _ . A. begin to work B. stay at home C. go to college D. visit their friends Answer: C. go to college
As a senior high school student, my-future is always on my mind. To-be exact,thoughts of the future have kept me up count.less nights and made me worrv enough to do poorly on more than one test. Because of this, words of wisdom are a scurce of comfort.Steve Jobs gave a speech to Stanford's graduating.class in 2005 and his words resound re-peatedly in my mind whenever I think about my future. It started when l became a junior, when college came into view. It's the first big step to making your life your own. So when Jobs discussed his life as a student, some fears were eased. He, too, felt the need to attend college to make something of himself. He faced what many are extremely afraid of: uncertainty. His lack of understanding caused him to stop attending college and focus on what he felt was important. His story had a happy ending, of course, since he certainly turned out well. This doesn't mean that students shouldn't attend college, but rather that theyshouldn't worry so much. You'll get where you neecl to go, even if your path is a bit morewinding than you'd like. Jobs.talked about the hardships in his work. His love of his work helped him carry on and he got wh.ere he was meant to be, which restates the point: don't panic.One particular part of his speech stayed with me. Steve Jobs quoted thc saying"Stay hungry, stay foolisll" and it has become my motto. Staying foolish is realizing thatyou are still a fool, no matter how much you've learned or experienced. There is alwaysmore to explore. Staying hungry is wanting to find those things about which you are stilluneducated. Steve Jobs' level of success is possible to achieve, and I aim to prove that. With the will power to go into the world living every day like it's my last and allowing the future to take care of itself, 1 will do great things. In the last moments of my life, I'll be proud of what I have done and hope to have all the wisdom -a person could wish for. What die NOT Steve Jobs encourage students to do in his speech? A. Be content with what they know. B. Harve the desice to learn more. C. Stay calm in the face of hardships D. Be modest so as to learn more. Answer: A. Be content with what they know. Strange things happen when you travel, because the earth is divided into twenty-four zones. The time difference between two zones is one hour. You can have days with more than twenty-four hours and days with fewer than twenty- four hours. You can have weeks with more than seven days and weeks with fewer than seven days. If you make a five-trip across the Atlantic Ocean , your ship come into a different time zone every day. As you come into each zone, the time changes one hour. If you travel west, you set your watch back. If you travel east, you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours. If you make a trip by ship across the Pacific Ocean , you cross the International Date Line. This is the point where a new day begins when you cross the line, you change one full day. If you travel east, today becomes yesterday, if you travel west it is tomorrow. Something interesting will happen to the time if you travel because_. A. a day has always fewer than twenty-four hours B. a day has always more than twenty- four hours C. a day has more or fewer than twenty-four hours, D. some time zones are large and some time zones are small Answer: C. a day has more or fewer than twenty-four hours, When I was young, I wished for a good car and a big house. That was my idea of success. I took all the advanced classes and tried to do well in the exams with my mind set on going to a key school. I just knew that I would somehow become famous and be able to afford the car and the dream house. All the way through junior years, my mind was planning this beautiful future. Then in the eleventh grade, many losses changed my mind. First, one of my friends died at 16. Soon after, my great-grandmother passed away, followed by my beloved fourth-grade teacher. These events left me not knowing what to do or where to go . Death had never touched me so closely. After a long period of emptiness, it finally struck me: Life is not promised and neither is future success. Though I was attempting to achieve material success, I was not enjoying my daily life. I realized that finding inner peace, purpose and happiness will stick with me forever and that is real success. Enjoying life's precious quirks ( ) makes an ordinary person more successful than a wealthy person who isn't content and takes everything for granted. The summer before senior years, my attitude changed greatly. Instead of memorizing facts, I began learning skills. Instead of focusing on the future, I focused on today and the many blessings and successes that came with it. I still get excellent grades, but now I devote weeks to studying instead of struggling for exams, and I think about the future with a deeper sense of meaning. For me, being successful means truly living life each day. The reason why the author changed his idea of success is that _ . A. he can't afford his house B. his beloved teacher was dead C. he didn't know what to do or where to go D. he lost a few beloved persons in a short time Answer: D. he lost a few beloved persons in a short time I bent down in the shade under a sixty-foot-tall cactus , waiting for them to appear. The time was eight thirty in the morning. For seven mornings I had come to the same distant spot in the Sonoran Desert, in southern Arizona. I was here to watch the roadrunner, a small fast-running bird. I spotted two birds under a bush with red flowers. The roadrunners rushed out from under it. The birds moved rapidly on long skinny legs. Their feathers were brown and black. Their tails were seven inches long. Roadrunners use the tail for balance when running. That day, the roadrunners performed a courtship dance. They ran in wild circles. Suddenly, one stopped and stood still, its round eyes full of light. The second bird took hold of a small stick off the ground and presented it to the first, a gift serving as a symbol of their partnership. I returned to the spot each day, leaving bits of boiled chicken hoping they would return. Roadrunners eat snakes, lizards, mice, beetles, and spiders. Food is in short supply in the desert, so my offerings were welcome. The pair grew used to me. Soon after the pair finished building their nest six white eggs appeared in the nest bowl. In about three weeks, six roadrunner chicks, skin as black as coal, cried for food. Their parents brought food such as fence lizards and stink bugs. They fed their young until they were a month and a half old. Early one morning, a coyote came around, nose to the ground, for fresh bird meat. The roadrunners fearlessly drove the coyote away, but it was soon back. After three attacks the coyote went away for good, tail between its legs. I stopped watching the nest when the little roadrunners, at two months of age, were ready to live on their own. It was hard to break away from "my roadrunner family." Whenever I see a roadrunner now, rushing over the ground, I say hello to it as an old friend. The author went to the Sonoran Desert to _ . A. go on a tour of the desert B. carry out research into some animals in the desert C. make an observation about a kind of bird D. enjoy an adventure in southern Arizona Answer: C. make an observation about a kind of bird AIDS' Threat to Asia Grows NEW DELHI----Just a few years ago, Mala was a typical middle-class Indian housewife. She cooked, cleaned and looked after her two small children. Last year, her life took a tragic turn. Her husband died of AIDS; she was found out HIV-positive and her mother-in-law took her children away from her, saying they would get the disease. "When friends dropped for a visit, she would introduce me, saying, 'She is my son's widow. She has AIDS,'" said Mala. AIDS is now described as "explosive " around the world. A study of a hospital in the port city of Durban in South Africa, where the world's biggest and Africa's second AIDS conference opened last Sunday, found that almost half the beds in medical wards were occupied by AIDS patients. South Africa has one of the world's fastest growing HIV infections, with 1,700 people infected daily, adding to the 4.3 million, or 10 percent of its population, living with HIV. Until now, Asia has been more successful in holding the AIDS virus than Africa, where the disease has killed about 12 million people. AIDS is now threatening to surround many of Asia's poverty-stricken countries. Countries in Asia, such as Cambodia, and Thailand, have HIV infection speeds over 1 percent. But the low speeds hide huge numbers of infected people, because of the population base. In India, for example, 3.7 million are infected, more than in any other country except South Africa. In China, an estimated 860,000 people (the actual number may be a little larger), mainly drug users, live with HIV/AIDS. Gordon Alexander, a senior advisor for UN AIDS in India, estimates that the number hit by AIDS in Asia will climb about eight million over the next five years from about six million. In many Asian countries, the battle against HIV is a social and cultural one against public discussion of sexual health put a nationwide media campaign into action to limit the speed of HIV through unsafe sex. Brenton Wong, an official for Singapore's Action for AIDS, _ . "Shame and deny is still very, very common so people are afraid to get tested and many times won't even tell their families if they test positive," said Wong. It is judged that there are _ people hit by AIDS in Asia or so. A. 4.3 million B. 6 million C. 8 million D. 3.7 million Answer: B. 6 million
The time may soon come when we say goodbye to most of the world's languages. Today humans express themselves in over 6,000 different languages. But that is quickly changing. Many scientists say that over half of these languages will disappear within the next 50 years. After 100 years, the languages used in the world will not be more than 20. Why? It is because people from different cultures live and work together much more often than before. This brings changes. The languages of the world's main culture are replacing the languages of the smaller cultures. Most international trade takes place in world languages such as English. People respect their own cultures and traditions, but when it comes to getting a job, knowing a world language is often necessary. It may mean the difference between success and failure. Technology works on the change of languages in an even more amazing way. Modern media such as radio and television give young people in developing countries much knowledge about the world. But this knowledge doesn't come in words from the mouths of their parents or the elders in their neighborhood. It usually comes in the language of a different culture. People in different cultures think it good for them to share a popular language. They can quickly share ideas and work together. Knowing the same language means easier communication and is a basis for trust. Is the death of a small local language such a terrible thing? The answer is maybe. Many cultures may have words for many useful things we know nothing about. If their languages die, their valuable wisdom may be lost forever. The future of the world's language depends on our actions now. Will we protect endangered languages or allow them to quietly disappear? Time will have the last word. According to the passage, if all the people in the world knew a major world language, _ . A radio and television would all use the language B it would be easier for them to share their ideas C lessons at schools would be taught in the language D people would respect their own culture more Answer: B. it would be easier for them to share their ideas Smith entered Mr.Watson's office.The boss was a hard man.He fired people who didn't do well without giving them a second chance. "Smith," said Mr.Watson,"this past year your department hasn't earned money.We're going to drop that department.It's finished.I'm sorry,--but you'll have to go." "But,sir--if I just had a little more time.For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School." "What's that!" said the boss."Riverside!I didn't know you had a boy there.That's an expensive school for a man with your salary." "I know,sir.But he likes it there so much!He's a star athlete and the best boxer in the school.The boys call him Champ there." The boss sat perfectly still for a long time--a faraway look in his eyes.Then,suddenly,he said,"We've got to close your department,Smith. But you'll take over a new job in another department.It means longer hours--maybe more pay.Now get out.You're here for life." Smith got out,with surprise on his face.Then the boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk.It was Herbie's last letter from Riverside School--written a few days before he died.He had read it over and over again with sick pain.The letter read: I can't say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were.I guess it's the same everywhere when you're a cripple .But don't worry about me,Dad.They've got a good chemistry department here.And there's one boy here who is really great.He's a track star and boxing champ and just tops in chemistry.The boys call him Champ.He made them stop throwing my books around.And he knocked a boy down who hit me.He is the best friend I ever had.Dad,when I grow up,I want to do something for Champ.Something big--that he won't even know about. According to the text,which words can best describe Mr.Watson? A Sympathetic and grateful. B Selfish and greedy. C Hardworking and strict. D Easy-going and optimistic. Answer: A. Sympathetic and grateful. New Yorkers are gradually getting used to more bicyclers on those hot blue City Bikes.But what about local bike shops? Is City Bike rolling up riders at their expense? At Gotham Bikes in Tribeca,manager W.Ben said the shop has seen an increase in its overall sales due to the bike-share program."It's getting more people on the road,"he said.James Ryan,an employee at Danny's Cycles,said City Bike is a good option for people to ease in a city famous for its traffic jams."They can try out a bike without buying one."he said. Rentals are not a big part of the business at either Gotham Bikes or Danny's Cycles.But for Frank's Bike Shop,a small business on Christopher St.,the bike--share program has been bad news.Owner Frank Arroyo said his rental business has decreased by 90% since City Bike was rolled out last month.Arroyo's main rental customers are European tourists,who have since been drawn away by City Bikes. However,Ben said the bike--share is good for bike sales at his shop."People have used the bike--share and realized how great it is to bike in the city,then decide that they want something Dicer for themselves,"he noted.Andrew Crooks,owner of NYC Velo,at 64 Second Ave.,said at first he Was concerned about bike--share,though,he admitted,"I was happy to see people on bikes.It seemed like a great idea,but one that would be difficult to implement ."Crooks said he worried about inexperienced riders' lack of awareness of biking rules and strong negative reaction from non--cyclists.However,he said.it's still too early to tell if his business has been impacted.While it's possible that bike--share will cause a drop in business,Crooks thought that the idea was a positive step forward for New York City. What is the author's chief concern about the increasing use of City Bikes? A How non--cyclists respond to the program. B How local bike shops owners oppose the program. C How it affects local bike businesses. D How the safety of bike riders can be ensured. Answer: C. How it affects local bike businesses. "YOUR password has expired ," a message said on my screen, with instructions for changing it. Coming up with a new code doesn't seem like a big deal, unless you work at my company, where we have to change it monthly, using at least one uppercase character, one lowercase character, one symbol, and one number. Oh, the whole password can't be fewer than eight characters. And I can't use any of the same passwords I've used in the past three months. Suddenly I was furious . What didn't make it any better was that I was deeply depressed after my recent divorce. Disbelief about what she had done to me was all I thought about every day. I remembered a tip I'd heard from my former boss. He'd said: "I'm going to use a password to change my life." I couldn't focus on getting things done in my current mood. There were clear signs of what I needed to do to get control of my life again. My password became the sign. My password reminded me that I shouldn't let myself be a victim of my recent breakup and that I was strong enough to do something about it. I made my password Forgive@h3r. I had to type this several times a day. The simple action changed the way I looked at my ex-wife. That constant reminder led me to accept the way things had happened and find a new way of dealing with my depression. As the month wore on, I felt a slow healing begin to happen. By the time my server asked me to reset my password the following month, I felt free. One month later, my dear Exchange server asked me yet again to reset my password. I thought about the next thing that I had to get done. My password became Quit@smoking4ever. I quit smoking overnight. This password was a painful one to type during that month, but doing it helped me to yell at myself in my mind as I typed that statement. It motivated me to follow my monthly goal. One month later, my password became Save4trip@thailand. Guess where I went three months later: Thailand. Seeing how these reminders helped to achieve my goals kept me motivated and excited. While it's sometimes difficult to come up with your next goal, keeping at it brings great results What happened to the author after he had used his password to change his life? A He finally overcame his depression and forgave his ex-wife. B He started smoking to heal his broken heart. C He quit his job and went traveling around the world. D He became furious about his passwords getting longer and longer. Answer: A. He finally overcame his depression and forgave his ex-wife. According to a recent report, kids in primary school spend about six hours every week doing their homework.. So kids hate homework. However, their parents hate homework, too. Is it good for kids to do homework? Of course, a great number of researches do show that kids can remember what they have learnt in class better by finishing their homework on time and homework itself plays an important role in developing their learning shills, such as independent thinking and creativity. But for parents, the result is not the same. After a day of hard work, most of them feel like they're going through school a second time when they sit down with their children each night to help with their homework. And a recent survey found that 46 percent of parents feel like they don't spend enough quality time with their children, because they spend too much time doing the housework or helping with homework. And another 29 percent of parents have arguments with their kids often when they have different answers to the same question. Now several education scientists strongly advise parents to stop helping. They say it will give their kids more independence and give parents back their free time. At the same time, the number of homework - connected arguments will be less at home. Katy Smith, an education scientist, says, " You don't have to know everything. Children need to put their hands up for help and so do parents. Use your resources - online teachers, or even your neighborhood - just ask." Why do some parents argue with their kids? A Their kids don't finish homework on time. B Their kids don't like to do their homework. C Their kids don't work out the correct answers. D Their kids don't agree with them on the answers. Answer: D. Their kids don't agree with them on the answers.
Benjamin Franklin is remembered as an inventor, author, statesman, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. But all great people were kids once and got into naughty. In writing about his life, Franklin recalled a youthful event that he later regretted. Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. His father, whom Ben admired and respected, was a soapmaker and candlemaker with a large family. At the age of ten, Ben was taken out of school and put to work in the shop. Ben described his duties as "cutting wick for the candles, filling the dipping mold .But of course he preferred playing outdoors with his friends. One such plot is told here in his own words. "There was a saltwetland that bounded part of the millpond, on the edge of which, at high water, we used to stand to fish for minnows . By much abuse, we had made it a only quagmire . My proposal was to build a wharf there fit for us to stand upon, and I showed my comrades a large pile of stones, which were intended for a new house near the wetland, and which would very well suit our purpose. Accordingly, in the evening, when the workmen were gone, I gathered a number of my playfellows, and working with them diligently like so many ants, sometimes two or three to a stone, we brought them all away and built our little wharf. The next morning the workmen were surprised at missing the stones, which were found in our wharf. Inquiry was made after the removers;we were discovered and complained of;several of us were corrected by our fathers;and, though I pleaded the usefulness of the work, mine convinced me that nothing was useful which was not honest." What's the best title of the passage? Answer: Have you ever heard of blogs ? If you haven't, you should have. It's here, it's growing and it's having an influence on our life. Surf the Internet and you'll find blogs everywhere. A blog, shortened from "weblog", is a public Internet journal written by one person or a group of people. It is a website in which a person or a group can place news, personal thoughts, text, photos, video or audio files, or links upon which visitors can comment. A blog lets you post on the Internet without having to know web design or be technical. You are given an environment to make dated entries on the topic of your choice which are "published", so other people can read them. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called "blogging". Blogging has revolutionized Internet publishing in the last several years because it gives everyone with Internet access the opportunity to become an online writer. Objects, such as "text and photos" in a blog can be called "blog posts", "posts", or "entries". The person who posts these entries is called a "blogger". Now, somewhere around the world, a blog is created almost every 6 seconds. Because it's great potential, Bill Gates views it as important as e-mail, BBS, and MSN. He's trying to make blogs the important tools for future business communications. A blog is _ . Answer: Just after my birth I remember lying in the stable with my mother and looking out the door, I could see a lovely, big field with trees around the edge and a good-sized pond to drink from. And there in the stable, while all of the other horses ate grass, I remember drinking my mother's milk. Usually, in the morning and afternoon, I would run with my mother or play with other young horses in the field. Sometimes, this play became too dangerous and my mother would come and take me away. The farmer was a good horse owner. He took good care of us all, but he seemed to prefer my mother to the other horses. And because I was her baby, he started to like me as well. Pretty soon I was eating grass like all of the other horses. Because I no longer needed her milk, and because she was his favorite horse, the farmer quickly put my mother back to work, pulling his carriage to and from the market, always coming back in the early evening. One evening I was playing with the other horses when my mother called me over to her. She told me that she never again wanted to see me playing so roughly with the others. I must grow up to be as wonderful as my ancestors, always working hard, walking proudly, and never hurting others. I promised her that I would do as she said. However, I had to admit that it was sometimes difficult to be kind to people like Dick, the worker-boy. He was always throwing rocks at us when he should have been picking fruit. We had to running around trying to avoid the rocks. Luckily, one day the farmer caught Dick behaving this way. The letter was given some money and then left the farm. That was the last time we ever saw the boy. My mother had to go back to work partly because _ . Answer: It will soon be time to set out to plant tomatoes, an act one performs when the weather has settled. That means warm soil, proper night temperatures and no risk of a sudden reversion to winter. I no longer believe in settled weather. In the current age of climate confusion, a backup plan is always an essential part of a gardener's intention for an ideal tomato harvest. Where tomatoes are concerned, the best crop insurance is to root some extras from cuttings . It can take a couple of months to grow garden-ready tomato plants from seed , but cuttings can be ready to go in a few weeks. Yes, you could pick up some starts at a garden center, but it's hard to find strong ones in good condition. Instead, buy one tomato plant, and turn it into many. Tomatoes root very quickly and easily. All you do is remove a tiny branch about 6 inches tall off the main stem , carefully cut off all but the top two leaves, plant the tiny branch in a pot, and wait. Roots will emerge along the stem and new growth will soon appear if kept damp, warm and out of direct sunlight. If you have never rooted stem cuttings before, you will have gained not only a tomato crop but also a skill that you can now apply to other plants in your garden, both edible and ornamental . Tomato s such as peppers and eggplants can be similarly rooted, as can many herbs, especially those in the mint family. Which season might it be when the author writes this passage? Answer: Bicycle tour and race A bike tour and race will be held on August 26th and 27th(Sat. &Sun. ) at 5:30 a. m. The riders will leave Tian'an Men Square and ride the first 35 kilometers as a training leg . Then the next 55 kilometers' leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive part of the tour. The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli. The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside of Nandaihe, covering a distance of 20 kilometers. Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper. Sunday morning is free for the seaside. At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing. Cost: 200 yuan; Telephone: 4675027 Brazilian footballers The Brazilian Football Club play with Beijjing Guo'an Team at the Workers Stadium On August 26th. The club has four nation team players. Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Ronario who has promised to play for at least 45 minutes. Ticket Prices: 60/100/150 yuan Time/date: 4: 30 p. m. August 26th(Sat. ); Telephone: 5012372 Rock climbing The third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26th and 27that the Huairou Mountain--climbing Training Base. More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it. A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing. Free for audience. Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou. Time/Date: 9~12 am, August 26th and 27th; Telephone: 7143177, 7144850 Wang Zhenghua The main purpose of announcing the above events is to give information about _ . Answer:
Question: Grey clouds move as low as smoke over the treetops at Lolo Pass. The ground is white. The day is June 10.It has been snowing for the past four days in the Bitterroot Mountains.Wayne Fairchild is getting worried about our trek over the Lolo Trail-95 miles from Lolo Montana to Weippe in Idaho, across the roughest country in the West. Lewis and Clark were nearly defeated 200 years ago by snowstorms on the Lolo.Today Fairchild is nervously checking the weather reports.He has agreed to take me across the toughest,middle section of the trail. When Lewis climbed on top of Lemhi Pass,140 miles south of Missoula,on Aug.12,1805,he was astonished by what was in front of him;"high mountain chains still to the West of us with their tops partially covered with snow."Nobody in what was then the US knew the Rocky Mountains existed,with peaks twice as high as anything in the Appalachians back East. Today their pathway through those mountains holds more attraction than any other ground over which they traveled,for its raw wilderness is an evidence to the character of two cultures:the explorers who braved its hardships and the Native Americans who prize and conserve the path as a sacred gift. It remains today the same condition as when Lewis and Clark walked it. The Lolo is passable only from July to mid-September.Our luck is holding with the weather,although the snow keeps getting deeper.As we climb to Indian Post Office,the highest point on the trail at 7,033 ft,we have covered 13 miles in soft snow,and we hardly have enough energy to make dinner.After a meal of chicken,I sit on a rock on top of the ridge .There is no light visible in any direction,not even another campfire.For four days we do not see another human being.We are occupied with the things that mix fear with joy.In our imagination we have finally caught up with Lewis and Clark. We can infer from the text that when crossing the Lolo Pass the author _ . A. was attempting the impossible B. was trying to set a world record C. was following the trail of Lewis and Clark D. was fighting with weather and taking unnecessary risks Answer: C. was following the trail of Lewis and Clark Question: Are you a happy person most of the time? Or do you easily get angry sometimes? Everyone has a different temperament . It is usually be1ieved that both genes and environment may affect people's temperaments in different ways. But now scientists have found that the season of birth also plays a role. Scientists from Budapest, Hungary, studied 400 university students. In the study, the students needed to finish a questionnaire . The purpose of it was to find out which of four kinds of temperaments they most had. From the questionnaire, scientists found that the students always answered something like "My mood often changes for no reason" and "I love to deal with new projects, even if it is risky". These answers were then matched with their birthdays. They discovered that people born in summer easily change between sad and happy moods compared to people born in winter. Those who always feel positive are mostly born in spring and summer. The study also found that those born in autumn less probably had a mood of _ which may easily drive them to cry, while those born in winter were not easier to be angry. Scientists said that this was probably because the seasons had an influence on certain chemicals in the human body. And the chemicals are important to control people's moods even in adult life. _ "It seems that when you are born may increase or decrease your chance of developing certain mood disorders ," lead scientist Xenia Gonda told The Telegraph. What's the best title of this passage? A. Seasons and Moods B. The Influence of Genes C. Moods and Health D. The Importance of Birthplaces Answer: A. Seasons and Moods Question: Universal Studios Hollywood, a park for fun, entertainment, and even learning, is taking its first steps in a 25-year plan to expand itself. The plan is to expand the amusement facilities and develop a residential neighborhood in the area. "I'm really excited about what's happening here," one visitor said. Originally known as Universal City, Universal Studios Hollywood was founded in 1915 by Carl Laemmle. It was the first studio offering tours during which people could watch films in production. Since then, Universal Studios Hollywood has grown to include theme parks, restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, and etc. This park proved to be so popular that Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990. With such past success and growth, it's no wonder that Universal Studios Hollywood is excited about its latest plans for expansion. The original plans had to be changed because of environmental regulations , but now they are ready to move ahead at full speed. While many new attractions are in the works for the new expansion, Universal Studios Hollywood will keep some of its old attractions, such as the Bates Mansion from the film Psychoand the Shark from Jaws. These attractions offer a look at the historical development of the film industry, and show the advances in film-production techniques over the years. But while preserving the past, plenty of new high-tech sound stages, rides, and theaters are in the works. In May, Citywalk, a shopping, dining, and entertainment facility, began undergoing renovations , and spring also saw the opening of Sky Venture Hollywood, an attraction where visitors can float 40 feet into the air on 125 mph winds. From the passage we learn that Universal Studios Hollywood _ . A. was built as a theme park at first B. was not allowed to expand at first C. has finished its changes already D. has been in Florida for 30 years Answer: B. was not allowed to expand at first Question: adobe works as an electrical A. paper weight B. pie filler C. chiller D. anti-conductor Answer: D. anti-conductor Question: Edmonton's Downtown Park is transformed into one huge stage for five days where artists are able to share their talents, and where people are able to celebrate and enjoy themselves. Since its beginning in 1980, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival has been commemorating the true feeling of what folk music is all about and that's the traditional togetherness that is felt when people gather to share stories and feelings through song. This year will be the sixth year when volunteer Riedel will be offering up her time to the festival. "People coming off a busy spring and summer have a moment of relaxation," Riedel said. "It's really easy to relax, and it's great seeing family and friends have fun together." These families and friends come from all different kinds of musical tastes. People who take pleasure in Blues are there, so are people who love Bluegrass. This festival does its best to develop everyone's musical interests. With so many years of experience, the festival has become a well-oiled machine, and does whatever it can to make attendees feel as comfortable as possible. There are free water stations throughout the venue for people to fill up their travel cups. When people buy food, reusable dishes are given a $2 plate fee, but that is returned when the plate is brought back. The festival has completely sold out of tickets, and in record time. But with big names such as Van Morrison and Jakob Dylan, it's easy to see how that was going to happen. There is no parking area during the festival, so using the Park & Ride system or Edmonton Transit is highly recommended. A bike lock-up area is provided and will be available Thursday until Sunday one hour before the gates open until 45 minutes after the gates close. The Edmonton Folk Music Festival begins on Wednesday, Aug.4 with Van Morrison playing the special donation fund concert, and will finish up on Sunday, Aug.8. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? A. It costs people a little to fill up their cups from water stations. B. It's hard for people to appreciate Blues. C. Riedel has volunteered for the festival for at least 5years. D. People have to pay $2 for a plate of food. Answer: C. Riedel has volunteered for the festival for at least 5years.
." Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively. For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony of a century's prosperity. One of America's bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed. But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends be needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world. It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company. Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks. It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor, and a fallen Martin Luther King Jr. on the hard balcony of a Memphis motel. When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to posterity from the Eastman Kodak Company. In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people. Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take stilted pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn't afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn't just people whose features were savable; it was events, the sacred and precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity's moment. And it wasn't just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that familes cherish. Kodak let the fleeting moments of birthdays and weddings, picnics and parties, be preserved and saved. It allowed for the creation of the most egalitarian art form. Lovers could take one another's pictures, children were photographed walking out the door on the first day of school, decided what was worth recording, and hundreds of millions of such decisions were made. And for centuries to come, those long dead will smile and dance and communicate to their unborn progeny. Family history will be not only names on paper, but smiles on faces. The cash flow not just provided thousands of people with job, but also allowed the company's founder to engage in some of the most generous philanthropy in America's history. Not just in Kodak's home city of Rochester, New York, but in Tuskegee and London, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He bankrolled two historically black colleges, fixed the teeth of Europe's poor, and quietly did good wherever he could. While doing good, Kodak did very well. Over all the years, all the Kodakers over all the years are essential parts of that monumental legacy. They prospered a great company, but they - with that company - blessed the world. That is what we should remember about the Eastman Kodak Company. Like its founder, we should remember how it lived, not how it died. History will forget the small men who have scuttled this company. But history will never forget Kodak. According to the passage, which of the following is to blame for the fall of Kodak? Answer: The poor management of the company The government in China plans to end its one-child policy and let families have two children instead. The plan was announced on Thursday after high -level political meetings in Beijing. A Chinese Communist Party statement gave a number of reasons for the change in policy. The statement said the change is meant to balance population development, stop a falling birth rate and strengthen the country's labor force . China, with the largest population in the world, started the one -child policy in 1980. But the government allowed only a small number of couples to have two children. For example, some families in the countryside could have two children, if the first-born child is a girl. In 2013, the Chinese government gave other couples a chance to have two children if one of them was an only child. Jiang Quanbao, a teacher and population expert, explained how Chinese families react to the newest policy. "Too many young people in the cities are no longer interested in having a second child," he said. "People in the countryside are more interested. But some of them are already allowed to have two children. " At the end of 2014, China had a population of 1.37 billion people. A total of 800 million of them have jobs. But the labor market population will drop in 35 years. That is to say, the country will be in great need of labor by the year 2050. With the two-child policy, an increase in births can solve this problem. Boys and girls, what do you think of the two-child policy? Do you want to have a new-born brother or a sister? More couples _ the Two-Children Policy according to the passage. Answer: disagree with an area of low-lying ground near to a river is at risk of Answer: H20 accumulation A traveler hurried down to the hall of an American hotel and went to the cash-desk. He had just 15 minutes to pay his bill and get to the station. Suddenly he remembered that he had left something in his room. "Look here, boy," he said to the bellboy, "run up to my room and see if I have left a parcel on the table there. Be quick about it." The boy ran upstairs. Five minutes passed. The traveler was walking up and down the hall, looking very angry. At last the boy appeared. "Yes, sir," he reported to the traveler," you have left the parcel there, it's right on the table in your room." Five minutes later, the boy _ . Answer: came down to the hall but brought nothing back Every year holidays Broughton teams up with Sopraviva Trekking to offer twelve days of unforgettable adventure in a tropical rain forest.Depending on where this year's rain forest adventure is located,you may be going to Borneo, Malaysia,Indonesia,or even to the greatest rain forest of them all,the mighty Amazonian forest. You will fly with your fellow adventurers to one of our special base camps at the edge of the forest,where you will be given five days of survival training,and talks on the local wildlife by trained and experienced experts.You will also go on walks which take you deeper and deeper under the forest canopy until on your final night you camp out in the rain forest itself. Then you transfer by bus into the forest itself.If you go on one of the Asian holidays,you will have to walk the final miles to the camp site itself,to avoid disturbing the local ecology.All of the Sopraviva sites have been carefully built to conform with the latest regulations,and to cause the minimal amount of disturbance to the local wildlife. From the camp,you will go on daily walking tours to experience for yourself the beauty and diversity of the forests,and plants and vegetation that can be found nowhere else on the planet.Remember that these adventure holidays take you deep into the wilderness,and they are not suitable for families with young children or for anyone who is not physically able to meet the demands of this kind of adventure.Also remember that in order to preserve the delicate ecological system that you will be walking through ,no more than two dozen guests can stay at any camp at one time,so if you want to go on one of these very special holidays,you will need to book early! Go on daily walking tours and you'll enjoy _ . Answer: the wilderness
A man in a very splendid restaurant started to take off his jacket. Seeing this, the head waiter dashed to his table and said, " I'm afraid I must ask you to keep your jacket on, sir, for it is not good manners to do it in such a smart restaurant." "Now listen," said the man, "I'll let you know that the Queen of England gave me permission to remove my jacket here." "The Queen of England?" said the waiter in great surprise. "Sure," replied the man, " When I was in England last month, a friend of mine who had a very important position in high society took me to see the Queen. It was rather hot, so I started taking my coat off. The Queen looked over and said, "You may do that in the United States, but you may not do it here. " So I got the Queen's permission, right? What the Queen really meant was that _ . A. people in the U.S. were stupid and less polite B. she permitted him to take off his jacket in America C. the English and the Americans enjoyed different ways of life D. he shouldn't take off his coat in such a formal occasion in England Answer: D. he shouldn't take off his coat in such a formal occasion in England A father and his little son are going home. The boy is five years old. He is interested in(---) all kinds of things and he is always asking questions. "What's the meaning of the word 'drunk '?" asks the boy. "Well, my son," his father answers. "Look, there are two policemen. To a drunk man's eyes, there are four." "But, Dad, there is only one policeman." The boy is _ old. A. three years B. four years C. six years D. five years Answer: D. five years Christopher Thomas,27,was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes , Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness and even death. And if that weren't bad enough, he had no health insurance. After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he' d better find a way to fight back. He left Canton,Michigan for New York, got a job waiting tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar, and created diabeticrockstar..com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones-a place where over l,100people share personal stories, information and resources. Jason Swencki' s son, Kody, was diagnosed with diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online children' s forums together most evenings. " Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over," says Swencki, one of the site ' s volunteers." They know what he' s going through, so he doesn' t feel alone. " Kody is anything but alone; Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with 24 million, diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages. These days, Thomas' s main focus is his charity,Fight It, which provides medicines and supplies to people--225 to date-- who can' t afford a diabetic' s huge expenses. Fight-it. Org has raised about $ 23,000 -- in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival in the Caribbean. Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while still doing his full-time job waiting tables. " Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into finding a cure, " says Bentley Gubar, one of Rockstar ' s original members. " But Christopher is the only person I know saying people need help now. " Which of the following is true of Christopher Thomas? A. He needs to go to the doctor every day. B. He studies the leading cause of diabetes. C. He has a positive attitude to his disease. D. He encourages diabetics by writing articles. Answer: C. He has a positive attitude to his disease. How much do you hate waiting for another beer in a crowded bar? Josh Goodman invented a pretty obvious solution --self-service beer taps. Goodman, 36, recalled the exact moment in late 2008 when his frustration _ "I was hanging out with my friends at a Baltimore sports bar before an Orioles game," he said. "We just couldn't get another beer served to us quickly." Even more than annoyed, Goodman was struck by how much money the bar must be losing. Almost immediately, he got to work on a self-service beer concept. Within a few months, Goodman had launched Pour My Beer in Chicago (where he'd relocated to be with his wife). He invested $20,000 of his own funds and partnered with a U.S. manufacturer to make beer tables with two to four self-service taps. In February 2009, Goodman landed his first client : A Baltimore tavern. He spent the next two years growing the business and adding more bars and restaurants. In 2011, Pour My Beer introduced self-service "beer walls," which let people pour their own beer from taps on a wall. Pour My Beer has expanded to over 200 restaurants and bars in 28 states and Canada. The concept will roll out in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport this week and in Italy and Brazil later this year. The tables start at $4,000 and the beer walls cost as much as $16,000. It generated more than $400,000 in sales in 2013 and doubled that in 2014. Goodman expects to take in close to $2 million in revenue this year(2015) --which would make it the company's first profitable year. "Our business customers tell us that they've cut down on waste and they're selling twice as much beer on average," said Goodman. Which of the following can best describe Josh Goodman? A. far-sighted B. strong-willed C. kind-hearted D. bad-tempered Answer: A. far-sighted A woman Vicki once knew a young person named Susan at church. Susan always seemed happy, although Vicki knew she had faced struggles in her life. Her long-awaited marriage had quickly ended in divorce, but her whole face seemed to smile. One day Vicki asked Susan,"How is it that you are always so happy, you have so much energy, and you never seem to get down?" With her eyes smiling, Susan said,"I know the secret!" "What secret is that? What are you talking about?"Vicki asked. Susan replied,"The secret is this: I have learned there is little I can do in my life that will make me truly happy. I must depend on God to make me happy and meet my needs. When a need arises in my life, I have to trust God to supply according to HIS riches. I have learned most of the time I don't need half of what I think I do. He has never let me down. Since I learned that secret, I am happy." Vicki thought first, "That's too simple!" But upon reflecting over her own life, she remembered how she thought a bigger house would make her happy, but it didn't! She thought a better-paying job would make her happy, but it didn't. When did she realize her greatest happiness? Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren, playing games, eating pizza or reading a story, this is a simple gift from God. What do we know about Susan? A. She lived a very happy life with her family. B. She always wore a pretended smile on her face. C. She had her own share of trouble in life. D. She could overcome every difficulty in life. Answer: C. She had her own share of trouble in life.
Do you still remember your favorite poem from high school or some other important periods in your life?Why is it that decades later it still stands out in your mind?Probably the main reason is that some aspect of that poem resonates with you. In the same way, you too as a school leader can touch the hearts of your teachers and students. Poetry allows us to experience strong spiritual connections to things around us and to the past. The power that poetry has displayed over time and across cultures actually satisfies _ of the human heart and soul. As one of the oldest art forms, poetry has successfully connected various parts of humanity from one generation to another. Referring to poetry, Hillyer makes a simple yet meaningful statement, "With this key mankind unlocked his heart." School leaders can find and make use of the value of poetry for themselves, their students and their teachers. Beyond the simple use of poetry, techniques of poetry such as repetitions can be used to take advantage of the power of language to transform communication, create meaning and a culture of care and attention. Since schools are mainly about people and relationships, school leaders, like poets, are required to inspire and encourage the human heart. The use of poetry--or even of some techniques of poetry--in school leadership not only helps to improve communication, but also serves to meet the human need for inspiration. What is the purpose of the passage? Answer: I entered high school having read hundreds of books. But I was not a good reader. Merely bookish, I lacked a point of view when I read. Rather, I read in order to get a point of view. I searched books for good expressions and sayings, pieces of information, ideas, themes--anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated. When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a "complicated idea" until he had read at least two thousand books, I heard the words without recognizing either its irony or its very complicated truth. I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read. Strict with myself, I included only once a title I might have read several times.(How, after all, could one read a book more than once?)And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length.(Could anything shorter be a book?) There was yet another high school list I made. One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college. The article had a list of the "hundred most important books of Western Civilization." "More than anything else in my life," the professor told the reporter with finality(firmly), "these books have made me all that I am." That was the kind of words I couldn't ignore. I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles. Most books, of course, I hardly understood. While reading Plato's The Republic, for example, I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about. However, with the special patience and superstition of a schoolboy, I looked at every word of the text. And by the time I reached the last word, pleased, I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic, and seriously crossed Plato off my list On hearing the teacher's suggestion of reading, the writer thought _ . Answer: Bump! Bump! Scratch! Adam opened his eyes and pulled the covers up to his chin. He stared around his room, searching the darkness for the thing that was making those scary sounds. The closet door moved as something banged on it from the inside. "Who's there?" Adam asked in a shaky voice. The closet slowly began to open. Adam jumped out of bed and ran to the closet door, slamming it shut with his palms. He grabbed his desk chair and propped it against the door handle. Then he ran out of his room and down the hall. His brother's door was wide open, and Adam jumped onto David's bed. "Adam?" David asked in an annoyed voice. "What are you doing in here?" Adam caught David's arm. "There's something in my closet!""You probably had a bad dream. Go back to bed." Adam yanked the blankets off the bed. "It wasn't a dream. I was awake, and the closet door started opening by itself!"David sighed. "Fine. But when we don't find anything, you have to promise to leave me alone for the rest of the night."Adam nodded. David reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a flashlight. Then they headed to Adam's room. Adam stopped in the doorway. He could hear something scratching his closet door."Do you hear that?" Adam asked. David nodded. He walked over to Adam's bed and pulled the case off one of the pillows. He opened the pillowcase. "You open the door very slowly, and I'll grab whatever it is." Adam slid the chair to the side and pulled the closet door open a crack. Something banged against the door, trying to force it open. Adam took a deep breath and opened the door a few more inches. A small furry creature ran right into the pillowcase. "I got it!" David said, closing the pillowcase and holding it in the air."What is it?" Adam moved closer as David peeked inside. David put the pillowcase on the bed and an orange cat climbed out. Adam scooped the cat up. "Apricot? How did you get trapped in my closet?"David laughed. "The poor cat. If I was locked in your closet with your stinky shoes, I'd be banging on the door to get out, too!" What sort of person is David? Answer: I am usually in a bad mood after a long day at work, but on this particular Friday afternoon I was in a cheerful mood.I planned to have a good meal and watch Bridget Jones's Diary. My local supermarket is always busy.The first parking space I spotted was convenient, but I'd noticed a woman in an old car circling for a while.I let her have it.On the edge of the car park I backed into the next available spot--it was a tight fit. In record time I'd made my way through the supermarket and was back in the fresh air.In such a rush of good spirits, I emptied my purse change into the hands of a homeless man and helped a struggling woman go backwards into a parking space. Just as I spotted my car, 1 saw the woman I'd let have my car space earlier.I smiled and wished her a pleasant day. As I got back into my car, I spotted the same lady looking ill at me."Hello," she said, hesitantly."This might sound crazy but I was on my way to drop some of my mother's things off at tile charity bins." I looked quickly at the orange bins in the corner of the parking lot, confused."I saw you helping those people, and you seemed so happy.My mom had a dress just like that." She looked at me meaningfully.I smiled at her in encouragement, hoping she wouldn't notice that the dress she was admiring was now full of holes."I was going to give these away, but you are just so much like her." She passed a box in through the window.Shocked, unthinking, 1 took it automatically."I think she would like you to have it." She smiled and walked away. After a pause, I opened the box.Inside was a beautiful gold necklace.It was the nicest gift I'd ever received, and it was from a complete stranger. Later, I thought back on the day.I didn't feel the usual sense of exhaustion.The necklace was around my neck, a warm reminder of human kindness. When the woman passed a box through the window, the author felt _ . Answer: The deep sea is one of the most mysterious places on earth. Scientists rarely go there. Those few do discover new species all of the time. Many places of the deepest parts of the ocean, where it's forever dark, can light up. Now, a teen's research has shown new light on how one of these swimming animals behaves in darkness. The giant flashlight fish lives in the Indian Ocean as well as in tropical parts of the central and western Pacific. It lives at depths of up to 400 meters, (about 1,300 feet). But not always. Sometimes it lives in coral reefs in shallow waters. In those shallow waters, the blackish-blue fish comes out only at night. Reef-dwelling members of this species tend to be smaller than those living in deeper waters. Those biggies can grow to lengths of 35meters (14inches). That may not sound like a giant, but they are the largest of their type of fish. The giant flashlight fish gets its name from a small glow-in-the-dark patch found in a packet of tissue under each eye, explains Caroline Edmonds. She is a 13- year-old student from Fountain Valley, Calif. There, she attends Talbert Middle School. She said that the eye pockets in these fish contain light-producing bacteria. These bacteria and their host fish have built a relationship that helps both. The fish use the bacteria as a way to communicate with creatures around them. The bacteria gain nutrients from the fish and a safe place to live. When a fish wants to " flash" its light, it turns the bacteria-filled pocket toward the outside of its body, Caroline explains. When a fish wants to hide its light, it turns the pocket back toward the inside. According to her data, the fish flash most often when they are being fed. They flash least often late at night, when they are resting. From where does the giant flashlight fish produce light? Answer:
Making email easier is a task that several applications and email customers have tried and failed at SaneBox, like many _ , aims to make your digital life easier without forcing you to change your email platform. To be sure, you can apply various priority classes and groupings using SaneBox. What really makes SaneBox worth checking out is its ability to ensure unimportant and low-priority emails don't take up even a second of your day. When you apply SaneBox to your email client , it spends a good deal of time scanning your entire inbox, including ones you've already read. This helps the add-on determine which emails are most important to you. From then on you'll only see emails that SaneBox determines are must-reads, with all others falling into a "Later" folder which you can read at your spare time. Each day --- or however often you want it --- SaneBox will produce a report of all the low-priority emails it has collected for you, like a secretary gathering all the odds and ends for a short daily report. If you find an important email has been flagged as low-priority, you can adjust the settings so it never happens again. SaneBox works with all IMAP, WebDAV and OWA email customers including Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, MS Exchange and others. The program also supports OS X's Mail customers, though it requires a bit of adjusting POP-only email services are not supported. You can try out SaneBox for two weeks with no charge and after that point 3 options of subscriptions are available, ranging from US$2 to $20 per month. What is the main purpose of this passage? Answer: To promote SaneBox. Most young people enjoy some forms of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling, swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some forms--football, basketball, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering. Those who have a _ for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks in high mountains? This astonishment is caused, probably, by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure. Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as others, as there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of different kinds which would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods. If we compare mountaineering with other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a "team game". We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no "matches" between "teams" of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously teamwork. The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities. A mountain climber continues to improve in skills year by year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty. But it is not unusual for men of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they perhaps climb with more skills and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment. What sports are popular among people in winter in the passage? Answer: Skiing and skating. Johann Gutenberg, who worked as a goldsmith , took what had already been discovered, and created a small invention that changed history. He created a machine that allowed him to move small blocks of letters in such a way that written material could be printed and mass-produced. Few people could read before Guttenberg made the invention, but once books became less expensive, more Europeans could read and write. Block printing existed long before Gutenberg. The Chinese had been using wood blocks to print books as early as 868, but a new set of woodcuts had to be made for each book. Producing one book was not easy; producing all kinds of books was more difficult. Writing ink dates from about 2500 BC in Egypt and China. Gutenberg used an oil-based printing ink that would last longer than other inks used in his time. We don't know much about Gutenberg because he was not famous during his lifetime. He was born in Germany about 1400. In 1448, Gutenberg developed signatures for each number, letter, and punctuation mark . He then built the molds to hold the signatures in place. Gutenberg published the first mass-produced book: a 1,282 page Bible. To this day, more copies of the Bible have been printed than any other book. Copies of Gutenberg's invention spread throughout Europe, but the German goldsmith did not get rich from his invention. Some officials _ the invention of printing because they feared that it would spread bad ideas. By 1500 there were 1,700 printing presses in Europe. The presses had already produced about 20 million volumes of 40,000 different books. What happened after Johann Gutenberg's invention? Answer: People could afford to read books. Why do people drink too much, eat too much, smoke cigarettes or take drugs? What's to blame for all the bad behavior? Most people would say that, while these self-destructive acts can have many root causes, they all have one obvious thing in common: they are all examples of failures of self-control, lacking the will power to resist them. According to a recent study, however, if you really think about it, something about that simple answer doesn't quite make sense. In fact, it turns out that sometimes it's having will power that really gets you into trouble. Think back to the time you took your very first sip of beer. Disgusting, wasn't it? When my father gave me my first taste of beer as a teenager, I wondered why anyone would voluntarily drink it. And smoking? No one enjoys their first cigarette -- it tastes awful. So even though smoking, and drinking alcohol or coffee, can become temptation you need will power to resist, they never, ever start out that way. Just getting past those first horrible experiences actually requires a lot of self-control. Ironically , only those who can control themselves well, rather than give in to them, can ever come to someday develop a "taste" for Budweiser beer, Marlboro cigarettes, or dark-roasted Starbucks coffee. We do it for social acceptance. We force ourselves to consume alcohol, cigarettes, coffee and even illegal drugs, in order to seem experienced, grown-up, and cool. These bad habits aren't self-control failures -- far from it. They are voluntary choices, and they are in fact self-control successes. Self-control is simply a tool to be put to some use, helpful or harmful. To live happy and productive lives, we need to develop not only our self-control, but also the wisdom to make good decisions about when and where to apply it. What would be the best title for the passage? Answer: Dark Side of Self-control The Internet brings us many advantages. With the Internet, people can send and receive emails. On the Internet, people can skim over news. Using the Telnet, the user anywhere on the Internet can log into any other machine on which he has an account. It is possible to use the FTP program to copy files from one machine on the Internet to another. But the Internet also brings us troubles. Internet use seems to cause a fall in psychological health, according to research at Carnegie Mellon University. Even people who spent just a few hours a week on the Internet experienced more depression and loneliness than those who logged on less often, the twoyear study showed. And it wasn't that people who were already feeling bad spent more time on the Internet, but that using the Net actually seemed to cause the bad feelings. Researchers are puzzled over the results, which were completely opposite to what they had expected. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose their information and to communicate with others.The fact that Internet use reduces time used for family and friends may be the reason for the drop in health, researchers said. Faceless, bodiless"virtual" communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversations, and the relationships formed through it may not be so deep. Another possibility is that exposure to the wider world through the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives. "But _ it's _ important _ to _ remember _ this _ is _ not _ about _ the _ technology; _ it's _ about _ how _ it _ is _ used,"said one of the researchers. "It really points to the need for considering social factors when you design new inventions." What may be the reasons why the Internet use causes a fall in psychological health? Answer: All the above.
Several years ago ,Masaru Ibuka ,chairman of Sony ,was at a company planning a meeting. Suddenly he hdd a brilliant idea. He stopped the meeting and asked everyone present what would happen if Sony removed the recording function and 'speaker and sold headphones with a tape player instead. Almost everyone thought he was crazy. Still ,Ibuka kept thinking about his idea and worked at improving it The result, of course, turned out to be the wildly successful Sony Walkman. Good ideas often start with a seemingly silly question. Bill Bowerman was making breakfast one day. As he stood there making waffles for his son, he wondered what would happen if he poured rubber into his waffle iron. Later ,he tried it and the result looked something Like the bottom of most sports shoes we see today. Still, when he took this idea to several existing shoe companies, he was laughed at In fact, every single company turned him down. Though rather discouraged, Bowerman insisted and went on to form his own company, making NBKE athletic shoes. Sometime good ideas grow out of frustration .When Fred Smith was a student at Yale University, he had some paperwork that he needed to have delivered across the country the next day. Smith was amazed to find out that overnight delivery was impossible. He sat for a long while ,lost in thought Why couldn't there be a reliable overnight mail delivery service? He decided to design one. Smith did just that and turned his design into a class project His business professor gave him only a C for his efforts. However, Smith was not through. He improved the idea in that class project and finally turned them into one of the first and most successful overnight mail service in the world -- FedEx. We know that each of these ideas led to a very successful product or service that has changed the way many of us live. The best questions are usually open-ended and are often silly, Children aren't afraid to ask such questions ,but adults frequently are. Think how different the world might be if people never asked " silly" questions! We can conclude from the passage that _ . A. asking others for their silly questions leads to inventions B. lots of creative ideas usually end up as "silly" questions C. adults usually ask more silly questions than children D. crazy ideas sometimes contribute to great inventions Answer: D. crazy ideas sometimes contribute to great inventions Everyone knows that regular bedtimes are important, especially for children. But a research by Yvonne Kelly of University College, London, shows that daughters, it seems, do benefit from regular bedtimes. Sons do not. Dr Kelly and a team of colleagues examined the bedtimes and cognitive abilities of 11,178 children born in Britain between September 2000 and January 2002, who took part in a research project called the Millennium Cohort Study. The bedtime information they used was collected during four visits interviewers made to the homes of those participating in the study. These happened when the children were nine months, three years, five years and seven years of age. Besides asking whether the children had set bedtimes on weekdays and if they always, usually, sometimes or never made them, interviewers collected information about family routines, economic circumstances and other matters--including whether children were read to before they went to sleep and whether they had a television in their bedroom. The children in question were also asked, at the ages of three, five and seven, to take standardised reading, mathematical tests, from which their IQs could be tested. Dr Kelly's report shows that by the time children had reached the age of seven, not having had a regular bedtime did seem to affect their cognition. But that was true only if they were female. On the IQ scale, whose average value is 100 points, girls who had had regular bedtimes scored between eight and nine points more than those who did not. Boys were not completely unaffected. Irregular bedtimes left their IQs about six points below those of their contemporaries at the age of three. But the distinction disappeared by the time they were seven. This difference between the sexes is puzzling. "I did not expect it, and more research is necessary." said Dr Kelly. Where does this text probably come from? A. A science fiction. B. Children's literature. C. An advertisement. D. A science report. Answer: D. A science report. Violin prodigies , I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world's greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. "It is very clear," he told me. "They were all Jews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage." As a result, every Jewish parent's dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West. Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field to nurture talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. "In Japan, a most competitive society, with stronger discipline than ours," says Isaac Stern, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know are just as highly motivated as the Japanese. That's a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music. Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because _ . A. it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country B. Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent C. they wanted their children to enter into the professional field D. it would allow them access to a better life in the West Answer: D. it would allow them access to a better life in the West Children at a school in Italy have today begun an experiment to replace all their books with personal computers. The pupils involved will each be given a special laptop that contains their entire courses. Until today, the Don Milani di Rivoli elementary school in central Turin was like any other. Children turned up, got out their books and pens and began the process of learning. But now, in what's being described as a unique experiment, 60 fifth-grade pupils and a number of third-graders, will start using computers only. The mini-laptops, which run Windows software, all have a full curriculum programmed into them. The pupils will use the computers to do all their reading and writing. Security systems within the laptops mean the children's access to the Internet is strictly controlled. The machines weigh less than a kilogram, can be dropped from a height of 1.5 metres and are waterproof. Instead of spending 700 dollars a year on books, the laptops, built by the Italian company Olidata, cost less than 400 dollars. One of the teachers involved in the scheme says that, for the first time, schools will be able to verify in a scientific way how a computer alone can improve the learning process. The experiment, which has the backing of parents, is due to last a year. In other countries, such a programme is also being carried out. Venezuela is ordering one million low cost laptops for its school children. The machines will be based on the Intel Classmate laptop that has been designed for school children. Many see the deal as a blow for the One Laptop Per Child organization that has also been introducing its child- friendly machine to developing nations. The pupils use the laptop to _ in class. A. learn their lessons as an aid B. have a course named computer studies C. surf the Internet mainly to find information D. do what they used to do with books and pens Answer: D. do what they used to do with books and pens How are you and your family going to celebrate Earth Day? It's great day to get outside and ride a bike, but there are other ways you could spend the day. Here are four books. You can learn more about the earth and the animals that make the world a special place to live. The Busy Beaver, by Nicholas Oldland Beaver is very busy, and he doesn't always think carefully. As a result, he makes a mess of the forest and ends up in hospital. Finally, he realizes how careless he's been and decides to make things right when he returns to the forest. Lessons from Mother Earth, by Elaine Mcleod Five-year-old Tess is visiting her grandmother and, for the first time, she visits the garden. Along the way, Tess's grandmother tells her the rules of the garden, "You must always take good care of our garden. Never throw rubbish around. There is plenty for everyone to share if we don't destroy the earth." The story is beautifully told as a caring conversation between a child and her grandmother. Luz See the Light, by Claudia Davila When Luz's community experiences a series of black-outs , she quickly comes to understand the need to save energy and find other ways of doing things . With the help of her friends and neighbors, she creates a community garden and park that everyone can use. The book attracts many young readers. The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss A young boy learns of the role of the Lorax as protector of the trees, and how his home became polluted. The book contains memorable of forestry conservation . Which of the following words can best describe Luz? A. Organized. B. Creative. C. Beautiful. D. Unfriendly. Answer: B. Creative.
"I can't live without my mobile phone!" is what I often hear people say as they talk about how mobiles have become an essential part of their lives. The all so common sight of heads bent, eyes staring at mobile screens and fingers busy tapping away repeats itself across major cities around the world. Whenever there is a moment to spare while on the train, taxi or waiting in a queue, people busy themselves with their mobile phones. Some people believe our unhealthy obsession with mobile phones is destroying how we appreciate the little things in life or miss the moments that matter. The truth is that technology overall should be seen as just a tool to improve our lives. Mobile phones have certainly had a great influence on our lives, but I truly believe it is for the better. It's changed the way we communicate, whether for work or play. We are now less constrained by time and geographical location. With my mobile phone, I can dial into conference calls while stuck in a traffic jam, or reply to urgent e-mails while on the go. I can send a text message or share photos and videos with friends who aren't living in the same country. My phone calendar keeps my life organized, and even Facebook, Twitter, and instant messaging are now accessible from mobile phones! The mobile revolution isn't just changing the lives of urbanities like myself. I know of a young Bangladeshi woman named Shompa Akhter who is crazy about fashion and design. She dreamt about starting her own business and she did just that, opening a shop in Kushtia featuring her own creations. Dealing with supplies in different towns was a problem for Shompa --- purchase orders had to either be hand delivered or mailed out to supplies. Shompa also found it tough publicizing her business to potential customers outside her town. But once she learnt to operate the mobile phone, she was addicted. The 25-year-old businesswoman now stays in touch easily with her suppliers. Mobile e-mail is a blessing in her life. Who would have thought that mobility could bring about such enormous change? It shouldn't really be a surprise though. How is the text mainly developed? A. By inferring. B. By analysing causes. C. By giving examples. D. By comparing different ideas. Answer: D Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I got in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver used his brakes , the tires made a loud noise, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the back of the other car. I couldn't believe it. But then I couldn't believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, turned his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. I couldn't believe it! And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call: "The Law of the Garbage Truck ." He said: But then here's what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. So, I said: "Why did you just do that? This guy could have killed us! "Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you."So one day when someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You'll be happier." So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said: "I don't want their garbage and I'm not going to spread it anymore." I began to see Garbage Trucks. I see the load people are carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don't take it personally. I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on. What happened to the author on his way to Grand Central Station? A. He was caught in a traffic jam. B. He had a fight with his taxi driver. C. His taxi almost ran into another car. D. His taxi suddenly got a flat tire . Answer: C Real policemen, both in Britain and the United States, hardly recognize any similarity between their lives and what they see on TV -- if they ever get home in time. There are similarities, of course, but the cops (policemen) don't think much of them. The first difference is that a policeman's real life revolves round (......) the law. Most of his training is in criminal law. He has to know exactly what actions are crimes and what evidence can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a professional lawyer, and what is more, he has to apply it on his feet, in the dark and rain, running down an alley after someone he wants to talk to. Little of his time is spent in chatting to charming ladies or in dramatic confrontations with desperate criminals. He will spend most of his working life typing millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, unimportant people who are guilty -- or not -- of stupid crimes of little importance. Most television crime drama is about finding the criminal: as soon as he's arrested, the story is over. In real life, finding criminals is seldom much of a problem. Except in very serious cases like murders and terrorist attacks-- where failure to produce results reflects on the standing of the police -- little effort is spent on searching. The police have detailed machinery which eventually shows up most wanted men. Having made an arrest, a detective really starts to work. He has to prove his case in court and to do that he often has to gather a lot of different evidence. Much of this has to be given by people who don't want to get involved in a court case. So, as well as being overworked, a detective has to be out at all hours of the day and night interviewing his witnesses and persuading them, usually against their own best interests, to help him. A third big difference between the drama detective and the real detective is that the real detective lives in an unpleasant moral twilight . Detectives tend to have two opposing pressures: first, as members of a police force they always have to behave with legality; secondly, as expensive public servants they have to get results. They can hardly ever do both. Most of the time, some of them have to break the rules in small ways. If the detective has to deceive the world, the world often deceives him. Hardly anyone he meets tells him the truth. And this separation the detective feels between himself and the rest of the world is deepened by the simplemindedness -- as he sees it -- of citizens, social workers, doctors, law-makers, and judges, who, instead of putting a complete end to crime punish the criminals less strictly in the hope that this will make them reform. The result, detectives feel, is that nine-tenths of their work is re-catching people who should have stayed behind bars. This makes them rather cynical . It is essential for a policeman to be trained in criminal law _ . A. so that he can catch criminals in the streets easily B. because many of the criminals he has to catch are very dangerous C. because he has to know nearly as much about law as a professional lawyer D. so that he can give a good reason for his arrests in court Answer: D Mr.Brown is 80 years old. Every morning he goes for a walk in the park. And he comes home at twelve thirty for lunch.But today a car stops at his house. At twelve, two policemen help him get out.One of them says to Mr.Brown's daughter, "The old man can't find his way in the park. He asks us to take him home by car." The daughter thanks the policemen and leave. Then she asks her father,"Dad, you go to that park every day. But today, you can't find the way. What's wrong with you?" The old man smiles like a child and says, "I can find my way. I don't want to walk home." What does the policeman say to Mr.Brown's daughter? A. Mr.Brown doesn't want to walk home B. Mr.Brown can't find his way home C. Mr.Brown knows the way D. Mr.Brown is ill. Answer: B iPhone 6, which many people have been thirsty for, will be unveiled on September 9. It could go on sale to the public from Friday, September 19. Apple has launched a new iPhone every year since it unveiled the range in 2007, selling more than 500 million units since then, and has traditionally launched key products in September. The iPhone 6, Apple's ninth iPhone model, is expected to be released in two different sizes:4.7-inches and 5.5-inches. The smaller of the two will be available first. Like iPhone5, the new model will come in silver , gold and space grey. The iPhone 6 will be powered by new operating system iOS 8. Through iOS8, users will be able to monitor their health and fitness via HealthKit. HealthKit puts together numerous healthcare and fitness apps, such as blood pressure and heart rate monitors through partners including Nike, and allows them to communicate with each other. Users will be able to control home appliances and other connected devices through HomeKit, Apple's connected home framework. Similar to HealthKit, this app will organize your smart devices to control them in one place. One method of control will be via Siri-for example, you could tell Siri you were "going to bed", and it could dim the lights, lock your doors, close the garage door and set the room temperature. With the introduction of both of these key features, it's likely the iPhone 6 will take on even more of a lifestyle device role. It is designed to organize our lives and make everyday tasks easier and more efficiently completed. Suppliers are believed to be preparing to produce up to 80m of the new handsets by the end of December, according to the Wall Street Journal. In July, Apple announced strong financial results for its third quarter, with significant sales growth in China and profits ahead of expectations at $7.7bn. What can be inferred from the passage? A. Apple has the most advanced technology in the world. B. iPhones enjoy increasing popularity in China. C. Apple is the third biggest mobile phone producer in the world. D. Chinese people buy more iPhones than people in other countries. Answer: B
Grandma Moses is among the most famous twentieth-century painters of the United States,yet she did not start painting until she was in her late seventies.As she once said to herself:" I would never sit back in a rocking chair,waiting for someone to help me." No one could have had a more productive old age. She was born Anna Mary Robertson on a farm in New York State,one of five boys and five girls.At twelve she left home and was in domestic service until,at twenty-seven,she married Thomas Moses,the hired hand of one of her employers.They farmed most of their lives,first in Virginia and then in New York State,at Eagle Bridge.She had ten children,of whom five survived;her husband died in 1927. Grandma Moses painted a little as a child and made embroidery pictures as a hobby,but only changed to oils in old age because her hands had become too stiff to sew and she wanted to keep busy and pass the time.Her pictures were first sold at the local drugstore and at a market and were soon noticed by a businessman who bought everything she painted.Three of the pictures exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art,and in 1940 she had her first exhibition in New York.Between the 1930's and her death,she produced some 2,000 pictures:detailed and lively _ of the country life she had known for so long,with a wonderful sense of color and form."I think really hard till I think of something really pretty,and then I paint it" she said. According to the passage,Grandma Moses began to paint because she wanted to _ . Mr. Backer is a kind-hearted man. Once he gave some food to a poor woman . Mr White, the boss of the restaurant, found it and became angry. He often gave the leftovers to some poor workers. Mr. Backers lost his work for it. It was difficult for him to find work in the small country though he was an able cook. The war made all stop. Children couldn't go to school, most shops were closed, even some farmers were hungry. Some people were made to leave their houses and they had to find the safe places. It was an autumn night. Mr Backer hadn't any food to eat and went to bed, but he couldn't fall asleep, because he was very hungry . suddenly he heard a noise in his room. He saw a man looking for something useful there. He said nothing and watched it carefully. At last the man took a few old clothes out of a broken paper box and took them away. He got up from his bed quickly and followed him gently , with his _ on his back. The man didn't find him and went into a small and wet house. Mr. Backer also went in and saw there was nothing in the room. The thief saw him and was surprised. He asked, "What did you come here for?" "You have carried my things here," said Mr. Backer. "I have to move here, too!" Mr. Backer said nothing when the thief went into his room because _ . He wrote that the "human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants ". And it appears that simply reading those words by William Wordsworth proves his point. Researchers at the University of Liverpool found the works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth and the like had a beneficial effect on the mind, lifting the readers' spirits by catching their attention and leading to moments of self-reflection. Using equipment, they examined the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces of classical English literature both in their original form and in a more simplified, modern translation. And, according to the Sunday Telegraph, the experiment showed the more "challenging" works set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the ordinary versions. The research also found poetry, in particular, increased activity in the right hemisphere of the brain, an area concerned with "autobiographical memory", which helped the reader to reflect on and reevaluate their own experiences in light of what they had read. The academics said this meant the classics were more useful than self-help books. The brain responses of 30 volunteers was monitored in the first part of the research as they read Shakespeare in its original and "modern" form. In one example, volunteers read a line from King Lear, "A father and a gracious aged man: him have you madded ", before reading the simpler "A father and a gracious aged man: him you have enraged ". Shakespeare's use of the adjective "mad" as a verb caused a higher level of brain activity than the straightforward translation. "Reading classics is not just a matter of style. It is a matter of deep versions of experience that promotes the cognitive ability," said Prof Davis, who will present the findings at the North of England education conference in Sheffield this week. What does the author suggest by saying "simply reading those words by William Wordsworth proves his point"? When I was 16 years old,I made my first visit to the United States.It wasn't the first time I had been abroad.Like most English children I also learned French at school.And I had often been to France,so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn't understand English.But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problems. How wrong I was! The misunderstanding began at the airport.I was looking for a public telephone to give my friend Danny a call and tell her that I had arrived.A friendly old man saw me looking lost and asked if he could help me. "Yes,"I said."I want to give my friend a ring." "Well,that's nice,"he said."Are you getting married? But aren't you a bit young?" "Who is talking about marriage?"I replied."I only want to give my friend a ring to tell her I've arrived.Can you tell me where there's a phone box?" "Oh!"he said,"there's a phone downstairs." When at last we met,Danny explained the misunderstanding to me. "Don't worry,"she said to me,"I had so many difficulties at first.There are lots of words Which the Americans use differently in meaning from British.You will soon get used to all! How funny things they say.Most of the time British and American people understand each other!'' The writer wanted_. One day, a poor boy was trying to sell things from door to door to pay for school. He was hungry. Then he decided to ask for a meal at the next house. However, when a nice young woman opened the door, he changed to ask for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry and brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly and then asked, "How much do I pay?" "You needn't do that," she said. "Mother has taught me to be kind." Years later, the young woman became seriously ill. She was sent to a big city. When Dr.Howard Kelly, a very famous doctor now, heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. At once, he got up and went down through the hospital hall into her room. He recognized her at once and decided to do his best to save her life. He did it and they won at last! Before she left, the bill was sent to her. She was quite afraid to open it. Finally, she looked, and to her surprise, she found these words on the bill: "Paid with a glass of milk.Dr. Howard Kelly." Tears of joy came down from her eyes as she said silently, "Thank you, God. Your love has passed through hearts and hands." ,,. (5,2,10) Why did the boy want to sell things ?
the phases of the moon change the appearance of what? Answer: SALT LAKE CITY, March 1, 2010 --- Like silkworm moths , butterflies and spiders, caddisfly larvae spin silk, but they do so underwater instead of on dry land. Now, University of Utah researchers have discovered why the fly's silk is sticky when wet and how that may make it valuable as an adhesive tape during an operation. "Silk from caddisfly larvae may be useful some day as a medical adhesive for sticking wet tissues," says Russell Stewart, an associate professor of bioengineering and principal author of a new study of the fly silk's chemical and structural properties. "I picture it as sort of a wet Band-Aid, maybe used inside in operations --- like using a piece of tape to close a cut," he adds. "Gluing things together underwater is not easy. Have you ever tried to put a Band-Aid on in the shower? This insect has been doing this for 150 million to 200 million years." There are thousands of caddisfly species worldwide. Some species spend their larval stages developing underwater, and build an inch-long, tube-shaped case or shelter around themselves using sticky silk and grains of rock or sand. Other species use silk, small sticks and pieces of leaves. Each larva has a head and four legs that stick out from the tube.The larval case gets wider as the larva grows.A caddisfly larva eventually pupates as it develops into an adult fly and then hatches. Caddisflies now live around the world in waters ranging from fast streams to quiet low lying wet land. The caddisflies'adaptation to diverse habitats is largely due to the inventive use by their larva of underwater silk to build complex structures for protection and food gathering. Caddisflies fall into two groups. Some build their case and then drag it along with them underwater as they search for food. Some build a shelter glued to a rock,with a silk net to catch passing food. The passage is most probably a _ . Answer: Tom lived by himself a long way from town. He hardly went to town, but one day he went into town to buy a few things. After he bought them, he went into a restaurant and sat down at a table. When he looked around, he saw some old people put glasses on before reading their newspapers. So after lunch he decided to go to a shop to buy himself one pair, too. He walked along the road, and soon found a shop. The man in the shop let him try on a lot of glasses, but Tom always said, "No, I can't read with these." The man became puzzled , and he said, "Excuse me, but can you read?" "No, of course I can't!" Tom said angrily. "If I could read before, do you think I would come here to buy your glasses?" .What did he see in the restaurant? Answer: The size of eyes matter relevant to sight and sight ability, given that Answer: Phil White has just returned from an 18,000-mile, around-the-world bicycle trip.White had two reasons for making this _ journey.First of all, he wanted to use the trip to raise money for charity, which he did.He raised PS70,000 for the British charity, Oxfam.White's second reason for making the trip was to break the world record and become the fastest person to cycle around the world.He is still waiting to find out if he has broken the record or not. White set off from Trafalgar Square, in London, on 19th June 2004 and was back 299 days later.He spent more than l,300 hours in the saddle and destroyed four sets of tyres and three bike chains.He had the adventure of his life crossing Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas.Amazingly, he did all of this with absolutely no support team.No jeep carrying food, water and medicine.No doctor.Nothing! Just a bike and a very, very long road. The journey was lonely and desperate at times.He also had to fight his way across deserts, through jungles and over mountains.He cycled through heavy rains and temperatures of up to 45 degrees, all to help people in need.There were other dangers along the road.In Iran, he was chased by armed robbers and was lucky to escape with his life and the little money he had.The worst thing that happened to him was having to cycle into a headwind on a road that crosses the south of Australia.For l,000 kilometres he battled against the wind that was constantly pushing him.This part of the trip was slow, hard work and depressing, but he made it in the end.Now Mr.White is back and intends to write a book about his adventures. During his journey around the world, Phil White _ . Answer:
Question: While I was on a trip to Papua New Guinea to take underwater photographs, I asked a local dive guide to help me find a pygmy sea horse . I wanted to take a picture of it. These sea horses can be red or yellow-and-orange. The red pygmy sea horse lives on only one type of coral, a red sea fan that grows at depths below ninety feet. This depth made the job even tougher. As the pressure on my body increased, I had to breathe harder, which used my air supply faster. So the deeper I dived, the shorter my time underwater. I had a lot to do. First, I had to find the pygmy sea horse's special type of fan .Then I had to look over the whole fan with my magnifying glass to see if a sea horse lived on it. If not, I had to find another fan--all the while keeping an eye on my oxygen supply. The second fan rewarded me with a find. The dive guide held the magnifying glass so I could have my first look at the tiny fish. My next challenge was to focus my camera on such a small subject. The dive guide pointed at the tiny creature. I looked through the viewfinder on my large underwater camera housing , found the guide's finger, and followed it to the sea horse. It was hard to hold ourselves steady because both of us were floating in mid-water, but our system worked. I could hardly contain my excitement as I focused on the eyes of the cutest sea horse imaginable. While the author was taking pictures of the sea horse, _ . A. she felt extremely nervous B. her camera didn't work well C. the guide helped focus the camera D. the sea horse was swimming away Answer: C. the guide helped focus the camera Question: When the Japanese attacked America's ships at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941,they did it secretly.The makers of the movie Pearl Harbor have behaved differently. The noise about Pearl Harbor,made by Disney,has reached its highest point with its premiere before the movie opens in cinemas across the US at the start of the Memorial Day holiday weekend,a time to recall national heroes who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield. As Ben Affleck is the main star,the movie seems sure to become a success in the United States at least. At almost three hours in length,it promises to be a good old Hollywood movie.There is a love story.Affleck and his co-star,Josh Hartnett,both fall in love with the navy nurse,Kate Beckinsale and,of course,there is much human courage and love of country. It's certain that Disney will be accused of "changing" history.The showing of actual events in a movie always causes arguments. Bits of the story are deliberately not mentioned in the movie.It does not address the theory held by some historians that President Franklin Roosevelt knew about Japan's intention to attack the ships in Pearl Harbor.It is said he did nothing,as he was aware that such a blow would allow him to take America into the Second World War. Japan remains sensitive about being accused of wartime atrocities .And Disney is sensitive about its business in Japan,where it has a theme park. Not all the reviews of the movie have been full of praise.A reviewer for Newsweek,who was given an early preview,acknowledged that the 40-minute sequence showing the attack itself was powerful.The attack comes quite late in the movie,however,and the reviewer was less impressed with the characters and the love story. "Almost every line of the dialogue sounds like it comes from an old movie," the reviewer wrote. From the passage we can infer that the Memorial Day refers to _ . A. the day when the United States was founded B. the day when people honour their ancestors C. a day when people honour those who died in wars D. a day when people celebrate the victories of World War II Answer: C. a day when people honour those who died in wars Question: In front of my daughter, Shelly, was a bowl filled with cabbage. She hated cabbage. She only sat there in silence with tears in her eyes. "Shelly, my dear, why don't you eat a little? If not, your mum will shout at us." Shelly didn't feel happy. "OK, dad. I will eat, just a little." Then Shelly said, "Dad, if I eat it all, will you give me what I want?" "Yes." Slowly she began to eat. It took her almost half an hour to finish all the food in the bowl. Then she came up to me and said, "Dad, I want to have my hair cut off!" "Shelly, why don't you ask for something else? If we see your head like that, we'll feel very sad," I said. "But Dad, you promised! Now you're going back on your words. " I had to keep my promise. Shelly had all her hair cut off. She smiled. On Monday morning, I took Shelly to school. Just when I arrived, a boy got out of a car and shouted, "Shelly, please wait for me!" Guess what? The boy had no hair, either. "Sir, your daughter is great!" a man got out of the car and said, "This boy is my son, Harish. He has cancer. He lost his hair when he got ill. Shelly cut hers off so Harish felt less different. She is a special girl." I stood for a while, "My little daughter, you teach me how selfless real love is!" By cutting off her hair, Shelly only meant _ . A. to tell people she was selfless B. to become more different C. to look more special and beautiful D. to show her care and love for Harish Answer: D. to show her care and love for Harish Question: A volcano under the ocean slowly releases lava over time. As the lava is released, it cools and hardens on the ocean floor. Which feature will most likely form from the release and cooling of the lava on the ocean floor over time? A. a fault B. an island C. a reef D. a sandbar Answer: B. an island Question: Preparations are underway around the world for Chinese New Year (Feb 19) and celebrations in China will be mirrored across the planet wherever the Chinese Diaspora calls home. Here are some Chinatowns for those outside of China wishing to mark the day. London Although it may not be as large or as long-built as others, having only become a center for the Chinese community during the 1950s, London's Chinatown is a perfectly formed little firework that knows how to see in the year with a bang. Decorated with red lanterns , previous years have seen shows with acrobatics , martial arts , dance and opera nearby. San Francisco San Francisco's Chinatown is perhaps the most famous in the United States. The city was the main entry-point for Chinese who had crossed the Pacific to the USA during the early 19th century. Between the Grant Avenue and the Stockton Street, this historic area is a local treasure, attracting more visitors per year than the Golden Gate Bridge. Bangkok With a more than 100-year-old history, the Thai capital's Chinatown contains complex streets offering all kinds of tasty treats, clothes, toys and antiques. Sunday market days are such a good time to get the full atmosphere of the neighborhood. The area is also known for its gold dealers, whose shops line the road. Mauritius Found in Port Louis, this Mauritian Chinatown shows the island nation's rich multicultural diversity. Established in the early years of the 20th century by settlers from China, its tiny shops and restaurants serve locals and visitors. During the Chinese Spring Festival, the most exciting sight is the Dragon Dances on Rue Royale when Chinese musicians and dancers perform the traditional Lion dances through the streets. What's special about Bangkok's Chinatown? A. It is crowded with Chinese restaurants. B. It is well-known for its gold business. C. It was the major entrance for the Chinese. D. It is where you can enjoy fireworks. Answer: B. It is well-known for its gold business.
Antonia left Athens and came to America to make her fortune. She wanted to be a famous actress, so she went to live in Hollywood, California. At first, Antonia had very little money, so she was forced to watch every penny while _ of movie agents' offices. For over a year, she worked only in small parts. She found life extremely hard. She had to take buses or walk everywhere, and she ate only one meal a day. Even though she worked nights as a waitress, Antonia could not really make ends meet. Suddenly, one day, the star of a film became ill, and the director asked Antonia to take the part. Her acting was superb. After the first show of the film, she became an overnight success. Everyone gave her mad notice, and she received many offers for future starring roles. Since then, Antonia has changed her whole way of life. Now she wears expensive furs and drives a Rolls-Royce. She lives in a twenty-seven room house in Beverly Hills, with seven servants. All her needs are cared for. For Antonia, America is truly the land of streets paved with gold. Through her hard work, she has earned the fame she desired so much. What can we know from this passage? Answer: When my father married my mother in 1943,he gave my mother a 1937 crown coin and told her to keep it in the back of her purse and not spend it.This would mean that she always felt that she was protected and would always have money if she really needed it. When I was married in 1970, my husband who had heard this story,obtained a 1937 crown for me and I have always kept it in my wallet,and I have always had enough for my needs. A friend recently fell on hard times,partly through external circumstances and partly through poor planning.Friends and I have loaned her money,paid her bills,even given her food.tried to teach her budget techniques,and none of them has been a solution.She has just slipped deeper and deeper into financial trouble and depression. Last week she looked pale and unwell,very depressed and hopeless.I then thought about how the crown, a reminder of another care and love,had protected me,so 1 went to the bank for a $100 dollar bill.I told my friend the story and asked her to keep the $100 in the back of her wallet.It turned out that she didn't have a wallet,so she put the money in a little pencil case where she kept her coins.She immediately felt better."I feel rich,and thank you for being a good friend",she said,and we were both a bit teary. The reason for passing this on is not to praise any generosity on my part,but to show the power of "random acts of kindness".I went home and remembered a little wallet I had that I'd never used,and thought,"I'II give that to my friend".I opened it,and inside,found $100. The universe is very just and if your heart is open the reward always comes. The writer's friend immediately felt better after she got the$100 because _ . Answer: Do you feel like sleeping after lunch? What should you do about it? Don't drink coffee or tea! Instead, take a nap .A nap may make you more energetic . You will remember things better and make fewer mistakes. Also, you can learn things more easily after taking a nap. It may even cheer you up. But there is some advice you should follow about taking a nap. First, take a nap in the middle of the day, about eight hours after you wake up. Next, a 20-minute nap is good. If you sleep longer, you may fall into a deep sleep. After a deep sleep, you will feel worse. And you should set an alarm clock. Then you can fully relax during your nap. You won't have to keep looking at the clock.21cnj*y The next time you feel like sleeping after lunch, don't get worried. Put your head down, close your eyes and take a nap. What is the text mainly about? Answer: Ten years ago I used to be very fit . I rode a bike to work and I got a lot of exercise at weekends. I used to play tennis a lot and go for long walks. In those days I didn't earn very much. I had a job in an office. It wasn't a very good job but I had a lot of time to do the things I enjoyed doing. Then, about eight years ago, I got a much better job. The pay was better, but the hours were a lot longer. I bought a car and drove to work every day. I began to take people out to lunch. And I began to put on weight, too. I stopped playing tennis and going for long walks at weekends because I just didn't have any time for things like that any more. There's a lot of stress in my job. Perhaps that's why I started drinking more than I used to. For example, I used to have only half a glass of whisky when I got home, but then I started filling my glass to the top, and instead of having one glass, I would have several. I started smoking a lot, too. I never used to smoke at all. Two months ago I had a heart attack. At first I just couldn't believe it. Luckily it wasn't very serious. The doctor advised me to stop smoking and to eat less. He also advised me to work less and get more exercise. But I just haven't any time! My job takes everything out of me! Sometimes I wonder if I should get another job. Perhaps I could do something like I used to do. But if I do that, I won't earn as much. I have a family to support. I have to think of them, too. I just don't know what I should do. What do you think? Compared with ten years ago, what is worse for the author now? Answer: Peter is a boy. His full name is Peter Brown. He is nine years old. His telephone number is 010-55882226. Peter has an email address. It's peterbrown@hotmail.com. He likes singing and dancing. Jane is Peter's sister. Jane is seven years old. Her QQ number is 735469. Jane's email address is janebrown@hotmail.com. She is good at swimming and playing volleyball. If we want to call Peter, we can call him at _ . Answer:
It's our hope that the calculator will promote action, awareness and empowerment by showing you that one person can make a difference and help stop global warming. There are many simple things you can do in your daily life--what you eat, what you drive, how you build your home--that can have an effect on your immediate surroundings, and on places as far away as Antarctica. Here is a list of things that you can do to make a difference. Use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Replace 3 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Save 300lbs (pounds) of carbon dioxide and $60 per year. Use Recycled Paper Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Save 5lbs of carbon dioxide per ream of paper. Take Shorter Showers Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs. Save 350 lbs of carbon dioxide and $99 per year. Buy Products Locally Buy locally and reduce the amount of energy required to drive your products to your home. Carpool When You Can Own a big vehicle? _ with friends and co-workers saves fuel. Save 790 lbs of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year. Don't Idle in Your Car Idling wastes money and gas, and generates pollution and global warming causing emissions. Except when in traffic, turn your engine off in you must wait for more than 30 seconds. Buy Organic food The chemicals used in modern agriculture pollute the water supply, and require energy to produce. Turn Off Your Computer Shut off your computer when not in use, and save 200 lbs of carbon dioxide. Conserve energy by using your computer's "sleep mode" instead of a screensaver. With a Stop Global Warming calculator which costs you only $50 in hand, you will find what you do does count. What is the purpose of the author writing this passage? _ . A Giving people tips on how to save money in life B Telling people how to be environment-friendly C Promoting the product "Stop Global Warming calculator" D Telling people how to prevent carbon dioxide from being released Answer: C. Promoting the product "Stop Global Warming calculator" Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes contributed to an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012, the UN health agency has said. "Air pollution, and we're talking about both indoors and outdoors, is now the biggest environmental health problem, and _ is affecting everyone, both developed and developing countries," said Maria Neira, the World Health Organisation's public and environmental health chief. Globally, pollution was linked to one death in eight in 2012, new WHO research found. The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer. The hardest-hit regions of the globe were what the WHO labels Southeast Asia, which includes India and Indonesia, and the Western Pacific, ranging from China and South Korea to Japan and the Philippines. Together, they accounted for 5.9 million deaths. The global death toll included 4.3 million deaths due to indoor air pollution, chiefly caused by cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves. The toll from outdoor pollution was 3.7 million, with sources ranging from coal heating fires to diesel engines. Many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor pollution, the WHO said, and due to that overlap the separate death toll attributed to the two sources cannot simply be added together, hence the figure of seven million deaths. The new figure is "shocking and worrying", Ms Neira told reporters. When it last released an estimate for deaths related to air pollution, in 2008, the agency had put the figure related to outdoor pollution at 1.3 million, while the number blamed on indoor pollution was 1.9 million. But a change in research methods makes comparison difficult between the 2008 estimate and the 2012 figures, Neira said. In the past, for example, the WHO did not take into account the overlap between exposure to both forms, and only assessed urban pollution. Satellite imagery has made it easier to assess rural pollution, and new knowledge about the health impact of exposure has enabled a better count. "The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes," said Neira. "Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution. The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe." According to the WHO, some 2.9 billion people in poor nations live in homes that use fires as their principle method of cooking and heating. Carlos Dora, the WHO's public and environmental health coordinator, said that turned homes into "combustion chambers". Simple measures to stem the impact include so-called "clean cook stoves", which are a low-tech option, as well as improved ventilation, he said. Countries also need to rethink policies, Mr Dora said, pointing to the impact in the developed world of a shift to cleaner power sources, more efficient management of energy demand, and technical strides in the auto industry. He also said transport policies needed a shake-up. With air pollution having sparked a recent scare in France, leading to restrictions on car use and the temporary scrapping of public transport fees in Paris, Mr Dora said such measures could be applied in the longer term. "You can't buy clean air in a bottle," he said."The air is a shared resource. In order to breathe clean air, we have to have interventions in the areas that pollute air." The WHO said it planned by the end of this year to release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities. The main idea of this article is that _ . A In the past, the WHO did not take into account the overlap between exposure to both forms. B Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes caused an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012. C According to the WHO, some 2.9 billion people use fires as their principle method of cooking and heating. D The WHO will release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities by the end of this year. Answer: B. Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes caused an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012. Do you have any skiing equipment you no longer need? A ski school in the far north of India could put it to good use. In March we published a photo story about the extraordinary Zsnskar region in northern India,which is cut off from the outside world for more than seven months of the year,and only accessible via a frozen river.We also included information about the limited use of skiing in the region and the recent creation of the Zanskar Ski School: "Despite the difficulties of travelling through the region when the snow comes,skiing hasn't traditionally been used as a means of transport by the locals,largely because trees don't grow here, so there is little in the way of raw materials from which to make skis.In 1995, a group of British scientists in the region noticed the lack of skis and one of them returned to set up the Zanskar Ski School in Padam.The school provides lessons for a small fee and rents skis to the local people. Among the benefits that the school hopes to bring are improved education--children often find it difficult to get to school through the deep snow--and the possibility of offering ski tours to tourists in the future.So far,more than 300 local people have received training,and local doctors and policemen regularly borrow skis." But what we weren't able to include in the article is that the ski school is always on the look out for old skiing equipment--particularly of a size suitable for children--and, I thought. Now the European ski season is drawing to a close,there might be a few of you out there who have some old equipment you'd like to see go to a good home.If that's the ease you can get in touch with the school via their website www.zanskarski school.org. Who would be the most helpful to the school now? A People having old skiing equipment. B Students in the Zanskar Ski School C Locals in Zanskar region D Tavellers enjoying skiing Answer: A. People having old skiing equipment. The Bedouin people think most highly of people who show loyalty. To them loyalty does not mean that one is devoted to a country, a place, or a leader. Loyalty means being faithful to one's family and tribe . The Bedouin people take pride in their ancestors . They do not admire a hero from an ordinary or poor family as much as one who comes from an honored family. They particularly respect those who have received a good name from their ancestors and then have passed it on to their children. A man's position among the black-tent people depends upon his ancestors, relatives, and fellow tribesmen. If they are honored, he is also honored. If they are disgraced, he too is disgraced. Therefore one carefully guards the honor of his family, his lineage ,and his tribe. A man can protect his family's honor by being brave and generous and by giving protection to those who ask for it. He also guards it by carefully watching the women of his family. A Bedouin woman cannot bring honor to her family, but she can bring disgrace. Even if a woman only looks as if she has done wrong, she may be killed. The honor of her family depends upon her virtue . The Bedouin people respect those who _ . A leave their families to seek success on their own B value their families more than anything else C become heroes with an ordinary family background D are devoted to their country Answer: B. value their families more than anything else Work-life balance: Ways to restore harmony and reduce stress Finding work-life balance in today's frenetically paced world is no simple task. Spend more time at work than at home, and you miss out on a rewarding personal life. Then again, when you face challenges in your personal life, such as caring for an aging parent or coping with marital problems, concentrating on your job can be difficult. Whether the problem is too much focus on work or too little, when your work life and your personal life feel out of balance, stress -- along with its harmful effects -- is the result. The good news is that you can take control of your work-life balance -- and give yourself the time to do the things that are most important to you. The first step is to recognize how the world of work has changed. Then you can evaluate your relationship to work and apply some specific strategies for striking a healthier balance. How work invades your personal life There was a time when employees showed up for work Monday through Friday and worked eight- to nine-hour days. The boundaries between work and home were fairly clear then. But the world has changed and, unfortunately, the boundaries have blurred for many workers. Here's why: Global economy. As more skilled workers enter the global labor market and companies outsource or move more jobs to reduce labor costs, people feel pressured to work longer and produce more just to protect their jobs. International business. Work continues around the world 24 hours a day for some people. If you work in an international organization, you might be on call around the clock for troubleshooting or consulting. Advanced communication technology. Many people now have the ability to work anywhere -- from their home, from their car and even on vacation. And some managers expect this. Longer hours. Employers commonly ask employees to work longer hours than they're scheduled. Often, overtime is mandatory. If you hope to move up the career ladder, you may find yourself regularly working more than 40 hours a week to achieve and exceed expectations. Changes in family roles. Today's married worker is typically part of a dual-career couple, which makes it difficult to find time to meet commitments to family, friends and community. Married to your work It can be tempting to rack up the hours at work -- especially if you're trying to earn a promotion or some extra money for a child's education or a dream vacation. For others, working more hours feels necessary in order to manage the workload. But if you're spending most of your time at work, your home life will likely pay the price. Consider the pros and cons of working extra hours on your work-life balance: Fatigue. Your ability to think and your eye-hand coordination decrease when you're tired. This means you're less productive and may make more mistakes. These mistakes can lead to injury or rework and negatively impact your professional reputation. Family. You may miss out on important events, such as your child's first bike ride, your father's 60th birthday or your high-school reunion. Missing out on important milestones may harm relationships with your loved ones. Friends. Trusted friends are a key part of your support system. But if you're spending time at the office instead of with them, you'll find it difficult to nurture those friendships. Expectations. If you regularly work extra hours, you may be given more responsibility. This could create a never-ending and increasing cycle, causing more concerns and challenges. Sometimes working overtime is important. If you work for a company that requires mandatory overtime, you won't be able to avoid it, but you can learn to manage it. Most importantly, say no when you're too tired, when it's affecting your health or when you have crucial family obligations. Striking the best work-life balance _ With so many demands on your time -- from overtime to family obligations -- it can feel difficult to strike this balance. The goal is to make time for the activities that are the most important to you. Here are some ideas to help you find the balance that's best for you: Learn to say no. Whether it's a co-worker asking you to spearhead an extra project or your child's teacher asking you to manage the class play, remember that it's OK to respectfully say no. When you quit doing the things you only do out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you'll make more room in your life for the activities that are meaningful to you and bring you joy. Leave work at work. Make a conscious decision to separate work time from personal time. When with your family, for instance, turn off your cell phone and put away your laptop computer. Manage your time. Organize household tasks efficiently. Do one or two loads of laundry every day, rather than saving it all for your day off. A weekly family calendar of important dates and a daily list of to-dos will help you avoid deadline panic. If your employer offers a course in time management, sign up for it. Get enough sleep. There's nothing as stressful and potentially dangerous as working when you're sleep-deprived. Not only is your productivity affected, but also you can make costly mistakes. You may then have to work even more hours to make up for these mistakes. Communicate clearly. Limit time-consuming misunderstandings by communicating clearly and listening carefully. Take notes if necessary. Nurture yourself. Set aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as walking, working out or listening to music. Set aside one night each week for recreation. Take the phone off the hook, power down the computer and turn off the TV. Discover activities you can do with your partner, family or friends, such as playing golf, fishing or canoeing. Making time for activities you enjoy will rejuvenate you. Remember, striking a work-life balance isn't a one-shot deal. Creating balance in your life is a continuous process. Balance doesn't mean doing everything. Examine your priorities and set boundaries. Be firm in what you can and cannot do. Only you can restore harmony to your lifestyle. What will not happen if you don't get enough sleep? A You can make costly mistakes. B You will have low productivity. C You will feel stressed while working. D You will have no sense of exhaustion. Answer: D. You will have no sense of exhaustion.
Astronomers have captured the first direct image of a planet being born. Adam Kraus, of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy, said the planet is being formed out of dust and gas circling a 2-million-yea-old star about 450 light years from Earth. The planet itself, based on scientific models of how planets form, is believed to have started taking shape about 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. Called LkCa 15b, it's the youngest planet ever observed. The previous record holder was about five times older. Kraus and his colleague, Michael Ireland from Macquarie University and the Australian Astronomical Observatory, used Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea(a volcano on the island of Hawaii, US) to find the planet. Kraus presented the discovery Wednesday at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Observing planets while they're forming can help scientists answer questions like weather planets form early in the life of a star or later, and whether they form relatively close to stars or father away. Planets can change orbits after forming, so it's difficult to answer such questions by studying older planets. "These very basic questions of when and where are best answered when you can actually see the planet forming, as the process is happening right now," Kraus said. Scientists hadn't been able to see such young planets before because the stars they're circling around outshine them. Kraus and Ireland used two techniques to overcome this problem.[:++] One method, which is also used by other astronomers, was to change the shape of the telescope mirrors to remove light distortion created by the Earth's atmosphere. The other method they used, which was unique, was to put masks with several holes over most of the telescope mirrors. The combination of these techniques allowed the astronomers to obtain high-quality images that let them see the planet next to the bright star. The star LkCa 15--the planet is named after its star--was the team's second target. They immediately knew they were seeing something new, so they plan to gather more data on the star. The research on younger planets helps scientists _ . A. study why planets change orbits after forming B. understand how planets move around their stars C. answer questions about the age of stars and planets D. know the relationship between planets and their stars Answer: D Where does a landslide begin? A. a low hill B. a plain C. a mountain D. a basin Answer: C He wanted to go to college, and the only thing that might have stopped him was his disability. But this year, Zhang Yan and other physically disabled kids can realize their dream just like any other students. As registration for this year's college entrance examinations draws near, the government has loosened its requirements on physical examinations for new college students. A new rule was jointly decided in March by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and the China Disabled Persons' Federation. It clearly states that no student should be rejected simply because they have a physical disability. Schools may still advise disabled students on the choice of their major if it is likely to affect their future chances of employment. However,the final decision will be up to the student., "Now I can just go ahead and do my best in the exams. I don't have to worry that my healthier classmates will have the upper hand because of my disability," said Zhang happily. The 18-year-old boy will graduate this year from a Chengdu high school inprefix = st1 /SichuanProvince. He lost an eye during an accident as a child. Zhang's mother calledPekingUniversityto ask if her son's eye problem would make it difficult for him to accepted by the university's Bio-chemistry Department. She was happy to find out that their choice of students would be based "fairly" on exam results. "The university official said my son would be judged at the same level as other students ," said Zhang's mother. From the report we can infer that Zhang Yan probably _ . A. is not sure of his success in the coming exam B. does a very good job in his studies. C. will not be chosen by the PekingUniversity. D. shows not much interest in PekingUniversity. Answer: B Glastonbury Festival: Time and place: 22nd~26th June, Pilton, Somerse. Recognized as the best summer festival season, Glastonbury is one of the biggest and oldest festivals in the UK. Last year's 40th anniversary was their best ever, even though the supergroup U2 canceled last minute because of Bono injuring his back. Latitude Festival: Time and place:14th~17th July, Henham Park, Suffolk. Now in its sixth year, this festival is the choice for more families. It is providing visitors with a range of entertainment to accompany the music, including comedy, show, theatre and literature. Shrewsbury Folk Festival: Time and place: 26th~29th August, West Mids Show Ground, Shrewsbury. Announced as one of the best folk festivals in the UK, this festival is only in its sixth year. It takes place over the 4 days of the August bank holiday weekend, and moved to Shrewsbury in 2006. Download Festival: Time and place: 10th and 12th, June, Donington Park Derby. It is a three-day rock music festival held every year. The name Download was chosen for the festival for two reasons. Downloading was a dirty work in the music industry at the time because of file sharing and rock is seen as a rebellious type of music. What is special about Latitude Festival? A. It is one of the best folk festivals in the UK. B. It has a long history and is held every year. C. It is the best summer festival in the UK. D. It is attractive and joyful for many families. Answer: D Look at this photo. 1 _ . He has two sisters. 2 _ . The other one in the yellow dress is his sister, Mary. Rose and Mary have the same age. They look the same. They are 3 _ . John and his sisters are in different schools.4 _ . Their dad and mom are English teachers. They like their students. The family are happy. ,. (10) : (1)The girl's dress _ . A. is white B. are white C. is black D. are black : Answer: A
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery . The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of politeness. The other speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere. It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Later that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. His speech lasted an hour and 57 minutes and it was a perfect example of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause . Lincoln turned to a friend and said, "I have failed again." Some newspapers at first criticized the speech. But little by little, as people read the speech, they began to like its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest speeches ever given in American history. Lincoln's speech was _ . A an immediate success B not accepted at all C a total failure D not well-received at first Answer: D The Enzian Art House in Florida was showing movies in the park. One evening, a few weeks before Christmas, they showed The Christmas Storyand had a raffle with a girl's bike as the prize. It was attractive with color1ed streamers , flowers' butterflies, a fascinating bell, all designed to delight a five-year-old girl. But I, who was fifty, won it! This led to a bit of a puzzle as 1 didn't have kids or grandchildren to give it to. I wanted the bike to go to someone who didn't have the opportunity to own such a wonderful thing. I contacted the shelter (where I occasionally volunteered in the kitchen) and while there was a big need for a sweet bike, there was also the potential for it to create conflict. I sought else where until I found out about a couple in our church who had been going through hard times in their marriage because of drugs and alcohol. They walked to our church (they didn't have a car) from a parking lot a mile away and they had a sweet little five-year-old daughter. On Christmas Eve I went to their parking lot. They had already left on foot to go to the candle lighting service. Their landlord was on the parking lot and when he heard that 1 wanted to leave the bike anonymously he offered to open up their trailer .There I saw a lone tree, so I put the bike behind it. It was a great moment for me and, I hope, a little bit of Christmas magic for the family and that little girl. Why was the author puzzled when he got the prize? A He couldn't carry it home. B He didn't know where to get the prize. C He couldn't find a proper way to keep it. D He didn't have kids about five years old to offer the bike to. Answer: D Sarah was ill, she went to see the doctor. " Doctor, I'm not feeling well," she said. " Every time I do my homework, I feel tired. If I go to school on foot, I have to sit down and rest for ten minutes." The doctor looked at her carefully. At last he said, " Nothing much. But I'm afraid you are eating too much." "I don't understand, what do you mean ? "asked Sarah. "I mean you eat too much food," said the doctor. " Oh! You mean I'm too fat. That's a problem." Said Sarah. "What should I do If I don't want to be heavy !" " The answer is easy," said the doctor. " If you want to be thin and healthy, you shouldn't eat a lot of food and you also should do much exercise." The doctor told her that _ . A she must eat much food B she ate too much C she was too thin D she was ill Answer: B India is traditionally a tea-drinking country. But, it is now gaining a new taste for coffee. This has led international coffee companies to consider opening businesses in the huge market. Local business people are also hoping to profit from the country's tea-drinking habits. They want to open new stores that offer tea. It is ten thirty in the morning in India. Two cafes are within meters of each other, near a college in New Delhi. And they are selling a lot of tea. Their main customers are undergraduate students. "We have a lot of break between classes, so whenever we get time, we just go and we enjoy ourselves. It's a lot of fun , especially when you are with people you enjoy spending time with." In the past ten years , cafes have become increasingly popular in India. The country's huge young population have quickly taken to the coffee culture. Coffee stores have spread from major cities like New Delhi and Mumbai to smaller towns. Coffee use has doubled in the last ten years . It is the success of this market that has gained the attention of companies like the American-based coffee chain Starbucks. The company will open its first store in India later this year. Other companies like Lavazza and Costa Coffee are already there. Yet, the growth of coffee will not reduce the popularity of tea. Indians drink eight times more tea than coffee. They have been drinking tea for more than one hundred and fifty years. India is one of the world's biggest producers of tea, which is known locally as "chai". Outside homes and offices, it is mostly sold by small businesses on the street. Which statement is wrong according to the passage? A Coffee stores have spread to small towns in India. B Some foreign coffee companies are trying to open Indian coffee market. C Local people worry about losing profit on tea. D Indians drink eight times more tea than coffee. Answer: C Nothing can destroy a vacation quicker than losing your money or credit cards. A few simple steps before you head out of the door can help protect your cash, card and personal information while you're traveling. Paul Stephens, a policy analyst San Diego, notes that people spend a lot of time planning their trips, from buying guidebooks to finding just the right beach outfits ."But their eyes glaze over when the subject of keeping money safe comes up," he said. "Why not take a few minutes to do something that could probably save your vacation?" Stephens asked."In most cases, they can go on your to-do list with' buy travel bags' and everything else," he added. The top recommendation is to clean your wallet. Remove unnecessary credit cards and any other unneeded documents that could compromise(...)your identity if lost or stolen while you're on vocation. Then make a photocopy of the cards you've decided to take along and keep it in a secure location with you(not in your wallet)or leave it with a trusted relative or friend back home. Then you will know who you need to contact and how to reach it if your wallet is missing. "Travelers should never leave their wallets or any identifying documents in their hotel room when they're not there," he said." Choose a hotel with a safe to keep your valuable things in. Or keep your wallet and documents with you at all times. " What is the topic of the passage? A How to prepare for travel. B How to be happy during your vacation. C How to keep cash and cards safe on vacation. D How to protect your luggage on vacation Answer: C
Flow like the river of change Little stream ran down from a high mountain through many villages and forests. Then it reached a desert. "I went through so many difficulties. I should have no problem crossing the desert, "she thought. As she started, she found herself slowly disappearing into the sand. After many tries, she still failed. "Maybe I can't reach the ocean, "she said sadly to herself. At this time, a deep voice said, "If a breeze can cross the desert, so can a river. "It was the voice of the desert. But the little stream answered, "That's because a breeze can fly, but I cannot. " "That's because you can't give up what you are. Let yourself evaporate into the breeze, and it can take you across, "said the desert. "Give up what I am now? No! No! "The little stream could not accept this idea. "The breeze can carry the vapor across the desert and let it leave as rain. The rain will form a river again, "said the desert. "And whether you're a river or vapor, your nature never changes. "Hearing this, the little stream went into the open arms of the breeze. It carried her to the next stage of her life. The course of our lives is like the experience of the little stream. If you want to go through difficulties in your life to head for success, you should also change the way you are. The little stream aimed to reach _ . If you are a high school senior graduating and looking to enter college in 2006, you will take the new exam. The biggest change to the SAT will be the introduction of a new writing section. The writing section will consist of two parts: an essay and a multiple-choice section. Students will be given 25 minutes to respond to a prompt and construct a well-organized essay that effectively deals with the task. The essay question may require students to complete a statement, to react to a quote, or to agree or disagree with a point of view. In any case, a good essay will support the chosen position with specific reasons and examples from literature, history, art, science, current affairs, or even a student's own experiences. Essays will be scored based on the procedures for the current SAT II: Writing Test. Essays will be graded by two independent readers On a scale of 1~6, and their two scores will be combined to form an essay subscore that ranges from 2 to 12. Should the readers' scores vary by more than 2 points, a third reader will score the essay; The readers will be high school teachers and college professors who teach composition. To ensure that essays will be scored in a timely manner, they will be scanned and made available to readers on the Internet for grading purpose. The writing section will also include multiple-choice grammar and usage questions. Some of these questions will call upon students to improve given sentences and paragraphs. Others will present students with sentences and require them to identify mistakes in diction , grammar, sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, proper word usage. The highest possible score on the new writing section will be 800. Scores on the essay and multiple-choice section will be combined to produce a single score. A writing subscore will also be assigned. The highest possible scores on the Critical Reading and Math sections will remain 800 each, making 2,400 a perfect score on the new SAT. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? Friendships can be difficult -- because often people aren't as honest and open as they should be. Sometimes, people finally get hurt. Most problems with friendships come up because people are just too selfish to care about the things that their friends need. They care about their own needs much more, which makes it hard for friendships to work. However, being selfish is part of human nature. A person is put together in order to take care of themselves and their own needs, not necessarily those needs of other people. Even though being selfish is something that all humans are born with, it is something that everyone should be against. The best thing to remember when you are a friend to anyone is that you need to treat your friends the same way that you'd like to be treated . This is wonderful advice for a friendship, because it is really the only way to make sure that you are giving your friends everything you would want to be given in a friendship. Whenever you have a question about how you should treat a friend, it is easy to find an answer simply by asking yourself what you would like your friend to do for you, if he or she was in your shoes. Even if you're always thinking about how you'd like to be treated, and your friends are too, there are problems that come up from time to time in each friendship, and it is important to understand how to deal with these problems so that you can build stronger and healthier friendships. Problems like friends getting boyfriends or girlfriends and not spending enough time with their friends, or even friends finding new friends and leaving old friends behind are problems that will probably come up with one or more of your friendships. It is important to know how to deal with these friend problems so that you can keep your friends and make new ones. No one wants to have a broken friendship. This passage mainly talks about _ . What would you do if Martians kidnapped your mom? In the 3-D animated movieMars Needs Moms, a young boy named Milo finds himself in this exact difficult situation. The aliens want to steal Milo's mother's "momness" for their own young. Now it's up to the 9-year-old to get his mom back before she is lost forever. Every good action movie has a bad guy. The villain in this film is the Martian Supervisor, played by Mindy Sterling. The Supervisor has an icy cold heart. Remarkably, Sterling acted out almost all of her scenes in a special Martian language created just for the movie. "Learning Martian was a piece of cake," Sterling said. "There wasn't too much to learn; sometimes, I just made it up!" Anyone who has a mother will be moved by this movie. In fact, anyone who loves someone will be moved by this movie. Maybe it is because the story was inspired by a real-life event. The movie is based on a novel by prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. He wrote the book after a dinner-table incident between his wife and son, who was then 4 years old. That night, Breathed's son had thrown his broccoli into the air and rushed out of the room angrily, yelling at his mother on the way out. Breathed told his son, "You might think differently about your mom if she were kidnapped by Martians." He wrote the novel that same evening. All kids get into arguments with their parents. The fights may be about homework, chores or eating vegetables.Mars Needs Momstells us to look past these silly disagreements and to remember the importance of family and the things that really matter. To Mindy Sterling, learning Martian language is _ . The smallest animal with a backbone known to science, a fish from the carp family, has been discovered in the peat swamps of Indonesia. Mature females of the fish species Paedocypris reach just 7.9mm in length. The species was discovered in the highly acidic peat swamps of the Indonesian island of Sumatra by a team led by Ralf Britz, a zoologist at the Natural History Museum in London. "This is one of the strangest fish that I've seen in my whole career," Dr Britz said. "It's tiny, and it lives in acid. I hope that we'll have time to find out more about them before their habitat disappears completely." The species lives in dark tea-colored swamp waters, which are 100 times more acidic than rainwater. Although these swamps were once thought to be inhabited by very few animals, recent research has shown that they are home to a highly different range of species that occur nowhere else. The peat swamps were damaged by forest fires in 1997, and are also threatened by agriculture. The scientists behind the discovery said that several populations of Paedocypris had already been lost. "Many of the peat swamps we surveyed throughout South-East Asia no longer exist," Dr Britz said. "Populations of all the miniature fish of peat swamps have decreased or disappeared." Details of the discovery are published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B. 64.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
Question: We are much happier in our new house because it has a large garden, and you know how enthusiastic we both are about gardening. When we moved in a month ago, Mary wanted to get a dog to keep out burglars. However, we finally decided that it would be cheaper to put an iron grille in front of the door and get a burglar alarm. Last week, I went to a shop and bought an alarm for just over PS200. It consists of a control unit with three smaller units. I put the control unit in the lounge and put the other units in place by the front door, back door and lounge windows. That night I soon fell asleep because I was confident that no one could get into our house undetected. At about 1:50 a.m. I woke up suddenly and heard the siren. It was like an ambulance driving right through our bedroom. I couldn't leave the siren on all night. I went downstairs in the dark. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I switched on the light and looked around. Oh my gosh. The back door was unlocked. I rushed to lock it and it was just at that exact moment that the 'burglar' disappeared behind a curtain. Guess what? It was an ordinary house lizard .Apparently the alarm system had been made for American or European homes in which lizards are never seen. I switched the alarm off and sat down to watch. A few moments later, a lizard ran across a wall, right in front of one of the alarm units. I won't bother to finish this story but if you'd like a burglar alarm system free of charge, just let us know. What will the author do after the incident? A. He will sell the alarm to someone else. B. He will buy a dog to keep out burglars. C. He will fix the alarm system immediately. D. He will file a complaint to the company. Answer: B Question: His first fight was for the equal rights of black people in South Africa. Then, as the first black president he fought to unite the country and organize the government. Now Nelson Mandela has set his sights on a new enemy, AIDS. On March 19 the 82-year-old, former president, hosted his second AIDS-awareness concert. He warned that 25 million people in Africa were already infected with the fatal disease. Mandela was born in a small village in South Africa in 1918. He was adopted by the chief of his tribe and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life. But he refused to be a chief when his people lived under racial discrimination ( ). He decided to fight for equal rights for all the people in South Africa. Before 1990, under the country's Racial Segregation Law , colored and white people lived separately. Black people were treated unfairly even when taking a bus. Blacks had to stand at the back of the bus to make room for white people even when there were only a few of them on board. For his opposition to the system Mandela was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990 and become the president of the country after the first elections were held in which everyone could vote. Mandela was not only a political fighter who attacked with speeches. He was also a trained boxer and fought in the ring when he was young. " Although I did not enjoy the violence of boxing, I was interested in how one moved one's body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat ," he wrote in his autobiography. As a skilful fighter, he chose music as his weapon against AIDS. He hopes to win another victory against AIDS. It can be inferred that Nelson Mandela _ . A. continues to help the black people with the political struggle B. is taking a position in a music group C. is taking on the world's greatest fight against AIDS D. is preparing for the next election of president Answer: C Question: Large numbers of children in Britain are missing out on the natural world, a study from the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) suggests. The three-year project found that only 21 % of children aged 8 --12 were "connected to nature". Girls were much more likely than boys to be exposed to the great outdoors, while children in Wales had the lowest score across the UK. The RSPB says that a perception among some adults that nature is dangerous or dirty could be holding children back. There has been an increasing amount of research in recent years underlining the lack of contact and experience with nature among modern children. Some have argued that this is having a negative impact on their health, education and behaviour. The RSPB says its new study is the first to quantify the scale of British children's exposure, or lack of it, to the natural world. They came up with a definition of what "connected to nature" actually means and then deve -loped a questionnaire with 16 statements designed to assess the level of connection among children. Some 1, 200 children from across the UK were asked to agree or disagree with these statements. Only 21 % of children in the UK had a level of connection with wildlife and the natural world that the RSPB believes should be realistic and achievable for all youngsters. This "realistic and achievable" value is based on the average scores of children visiting RSPB sites or who are junior members of the organization. One interesting finding was the gender difference. While 27 % of girls were at or above the "realistic and achievable" target, only 16 % of boys were at the same level. "We need to understand these differences," Sue Armstrong Brown, head of conservation at the charity, told BBC New. "Whether boys and girls are scoring differently on different questions, are girls more empathetic to nature than boys for instance? We need to analyze the data to find that out." The report also stressed significant regional differences. Only 13% of children in Wales achieved the basic level of exposure, compared with almost twice this number in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The RSPB believes that it's valuable for children to _ . A. be exposed to the natural world B. miss out on the natural world C. conduct a questionnaire D. visit dangerous places Answer: A Question: Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you. Well, ni-hao. (Laughter) It is such a pleasure and an honor to be here with all of you at this great university, so thank you so much for having me. I'm here today because I know that our future depends on connections like these among young people like you across the world. That's why when my husband and I travel abroad, we don't just visit palaces and parliaments and meet with heads of countries. We also come to schools like this one to meet with students like you, because we believe that relationships between countries aren't just about relationships between governments or leaders -- they're about relationships between people, particularly young people. So we view study abroad programs not just as an educational chance for students, but also as an active part of America's foreign policy . Through the wonders of modern technology, our world is more connected than ever before. Ideas can cross oceans with the click of a mouse. Companies can do business and _ with companies across the world. And we can text, email, Skype with people in the world. So studying abroad isn't just a fun way to spend a time of learning; it is quickly becoming the key to success in our times. Because getting ahead in today's workplaces isn't just about getting good grades or test scores in school, which are important. It's also about having real experience with the world beyond your borders -- experience with languages, cultures and societies very different from your own. Or, as the Chinese saying goes: "It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books." Where did the speaker probably give the talk to the audience? A. In a university. B. In the Parliament Hall. C. On the Internet. D. In a tourist attraction. Answer: A Question: People say that George Washington, the first president of the United States, never told a lie. But it seems that the president was not without faults. A New York library recently found that Washington borrowed two books from the library in 1789. He didn't return them. If he were still alive, he would have to pay the library $300,000 for being 220 years late. On October 5, 1789, when the first president borrowed the books form the New York Society Library, he didn't sign his name in the borrower's book. He just wrote "president" to show who had taken them out. The two books should have been brought back a month later but were never returned. Workers at the library realized the books were missing. The New York Society Library doesn't expect anyone to pay the fine. But it hopes that someone will return the books. Gorge Washington is _ . A. the president of the US now B. the first president of the US C. the first black president of the US D. the president who always borrowed the books without returning them back Answer: B
Every year more people recognize that it is wrong to kill wildlife for "sport." Progress in this direction is slow because shooting is not a sport for watching, and only those few who take part realize the cruelty and destruction. The number of gunners, however, grows rapidly. Children too young to develop proper judgments through independent thought are led along way away by their gunning parents. They are subjected to advertisements of gun producers who describe shooting as good for their health and guncarrying as a way of putting redder blood in the veins . They are persuaded by gunner magazines with stories honoring the chase and the kill. In school they view motion pictures which are supposedly meant to teach them how to deal with arms safely but which are actually designed to stimulate a desire to own a gun. Wildlife is disappearing because of shooting and because of the loss of wildland habitat . Habitat loss will continue with our increasing population, but can we slow the loss of wildlife caused by shooting? There doesn't seem to be any chance if the serious condition of our birds is not improved. Wildlife belongs to everyone and not to the gunners alone. Although most people do not shoot, they seem to forgive shooting for sport because they know little or nothing about it. The only answer, then, is to bring the truth about sport shooting to the great majority of people. Now, it is time to realize that animals have the same right to life as we do and that there is nothing fair or right about a person with a gun shooting the harmless and beautiful creatures. The gunners like to describe what they do as character-building, but we know that to wound an animal and watch it go through the agony of dying can make nobody happy. If, as they would have you believe, gun-carrying and killing improve human-character, then perhaps we should encourage war. It can be inferred from the text that the author seems to _ . A blame the majority of people B worry about the existence of wildlife C be in favour of war D be in support of character-building Answer: B. worry about the existence of wildlife I Have to See Another Doctor Mr. Clarke lives at the foot of the mountain. He keeps the forest for a rich farmer there. The only road to the forest is just in front of his house. He can easily see the people who want to enter the forest. Sometimes he has to be on duty at night. When he hears some sound, he has to get up to see if someone cuts the trees. One day he bought something in the town. He found a strong dog and bought it. He loves it very much and often gives some meat or bread to it. And when a strange man walks close to his house, it barks loudly. So he can soon know about it and goes out to find out who it is. But last week something was wrong with Mr. Clarke. He didn't feel well and couldn't fall asleep in the evening. He had to go to a hospital in the town. The doctor looked him over and then asked, "Have you got a dog, sir " "Yes, I have got one." "You have got a skin disease ," said the doctor. "I am sure your dog infected it to you. You can't come in touch with it any longer." When he came out of the hospital, he met a friend and told him about it. The man asked, "What are you going to do, to sell your dog or to give it to another man " "Neither," answered Mr. Clarke, "I have decided to see another doctor. It's much easier to find a doctor than to buy a good dog!" The doctor told him to _ . A buy another dog B throw the dog away C take the dog to the hospital D buy some medicine for his dog Answer: B. throw the dog away Which item is designed to change electrical energy into heat energy? A Alarm clock B Hand dryer C Fan D Telephone Answer: B. Hand dryer The Big Wedding Actor:Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, The Big Wedding is about a modern family holding a weekend wedding celebration. To make their adult children and friends happy, the long divorced couple Don and Ellie Griffin are once again forced to play the happy couple because of their son's wedding. With all guests looking on, the Griffins are forced to face their past, present and future. To come out on Oct26, 2012. Teddy Bear Director: Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy He brings his way of humor to the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice star of Teddy. In the play, he tells the story of John Bennett, a grown man who must deal with the lovely teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish...and has refused to leave his side ever since. To be _ d on July13, 2012. The impossible Actor: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor Maria, Henry and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand.But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas party the night before, a scaring noise rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of water runs toward her. Based on a true story, The impossible is the unforgettable experience of a family caught in the worst natural disasters of our time, with tens of thousands of strangers. It is planned to be on on Dec21, 2012. Which of the following is WRONG? A Don and Ellie Griffin play the happy couple due to the wedding. B Family Guy was another film created by Seth MacFarlane. C John Bennett wished his teddy bear to be alive when he was a child. D THE IMPOSSIBLE is based on people's experience in a sandstorm. Answer: D. THE IMPOSSIBLE is based on people's experience in a sandstorm. One day a poor farmer was taking a bag of wheat to town. Suddenly the bag fell off his horse onto the road. He did not know what he could do about it because it was too heavy for him to lift by himself. He only hoped that someone would soon pass by and lend him a hand. Just at his moment, a man riding a horse came up to him. But the farmer felt disappointed when he saw who he was. It was the great man who lived nearby. He thought the great man wouldn't help him, and hoped another farmer would come up. But to his surprise, the great man got off his horse as soon as he came near, "I see you need help," he said, "I'm here just at the right time. " Then he took one end of the bag and the farmer took the other, They lifed it together and put it on the horse. "Sir," asked the farmer, "how can I pay you?" "It's quite easy," the great man answered, "when you see anyone else in trouble, do the same for him. " The great man asked the poor farmer to pay him _ A by giving him money B by giving him a horse C by giving him a bag of wheat D by helping others Answer: D. by helping others
My name is David. I am an English boy. My families are in Beijing. My father and mother work there. I have a sister, but no brothers. My sister and I are students of a middle school in Beijing. We love China. We have a nice house in Beijing. My room is big. There is a bed, a desk and a computer in it. My books are on my desk and next to my computer. There are some pop singers' pictures on the wall. I like them. Where is the computer? A It's is on the bed. B It's is in the desk. C It is on the wall. D It is next to the books. Answer: D. It is next to the books. Do you dream of having beautiful hair like a model ? Well, you can have it if you look after your hair in the right way. To get beautiful hair, you first need to get healthy. So start eating good food, and start exercising. This will make your hair look healthy and full of life. You also need to keep your hair clean to make it look nice. But not many people know how to wash their hair in the right way. Many people wash their hair too much. This dries out their hair. You should only wash your hair every day if you have oily hair. If you have normal or dry hair, you should wash it every two or three days. According to the passage, a model has _ hair. A cool B beautiful C long D colourful Answer: B. beautiful My name is Bill. I come from China. Now I am in Grade Eight. I have to get up very early in the morning , because my home is very far from the school. After breakfast, I take the subway to get to school. This term, I have a new subject . It's physics. I like it best. I think it is very easy and interesting. I have physics classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They are all my favorite days. Mr.White is my physics teacher. He is now forty years old . Now he is in front of the blackboard. What's he doing now ? "Where is my physics book ? I am looking for it ." My deskmate , Mike , stands up and says , "Sir , it's in your hand ." We all laugh . Mr. White is very forgetful . ,. Who is Mr. White? A Bill's father. B Bill's deskmate . C Bill's politics teacher. D Mike's physics teacher. Answer: D. Mike's physics teacher. Jeanne Calment, a French woman, became a record breaker on 17 October of 1995, when at the age of 120 years and 238 days, she became the longest-lived human being on record. A Japanese man died in 1986 at the age of 120 years and 237 days. Jeanne Calment lives in a small old people's home in the south of France; her husband, her only child and her grandson have all died. She is nearly blind and deaf and is always in a wheelchair, but her doctor describes her as being more like a 90-year-old in good health than someone of 120. She still has a lively sense of humor. When asked on her 120th birthday what she expected of the future, she replied: A very short one. She also remarked that she thought the good Lord had forgotten all about her. So what is the key to a long life? According to some doctors, diet, exercise and no smoking are the three important factors. Jeanne Calment has followed two of the tips . She has always eaten a healthy diet, and she used to do exercises every day until she broke her leg at the age of 115. However, until recently she drank two glassed of strong red wine a day, and she does smoke (now only a little). Besides, Jeanne Calment might have got very good genes from her parents. Her father lived to the age of 94 and her mother to 86. A local lawyer bought her house when she was 80 under an agreement that he would pay her some money every year until her death. It must have seemed a good move at the time, but so far the lawyer has paid her at least three times the value of the house. Every year on her birthday Jeanne Calment sends him a card saying: Sorry, I'm still alive! Jeanne Calment owes her good health and long life to _ . A smoking only a little every day B her giving up smoking and drinking C drinking two glasses of strong red wine every day D the good genes from her parents, a healthy diet and some exercises Answer: D. the good genes from her parents, a healthy diet and some exercises Here's an unusual story:a diamond ring was recently found in an egg. The magician,Liu Qian,discovered it,in front of an audience of millions at CCTV's Spring Festival Gala. Liu's magic tricks have made the centuriesold art of magic fashionable once again,and made him the hottest magician in China. As a _ young magician from Taiwan,Liu is popular worldwide for his magic shows. Countries he has performed in include the United States,Japan,South Korea and the UK. Witnessing something impossible happen right before your eyes is the root of people's love for magic. Liu is known for his interaction with his audiences. He has a unique understanding of showmanship . "It's actually thinking rather than one's manipulation skills that is more important to achieving a successful magic show. We think carefully about how to design the shows creatively,to make them appear more interesting."Liu said. Liu Qian's success dated back to his childhood. Born in 1976 in Taiwan,he found himself attracted to a magic toy in a shop when he was seven years old. At the age of 12,he won Taiwan's Youth Magic Contest,which was judged by the great American magician,David Copperfield. Yet,Liu never planned on becoming a professional magician. He studied Japanese literature at university and only hoped to be an amateur magician in his spare time. However,his failure to find a proper job after graduation pushed him towards magic as a career. To refine his performing skills,he has performed on streets,roads and fields for passersby,policemen and farmers. "Street shows are the biggest challenge for us magicians. We have to deal with unexpected situations and tough crowds,"Liu said. Which of the following is the key reason that Liu Qian decided to make magic his career? A He was interested in magic when he was young. B He had won Taiwan's Youth Magic Contest. C He became an amateur magician in his spare time. D He couldn't find an acceptable job after graduation. Answer: D. He couldn't find an acceptable job after graduation.
I was waiting in a check-in line at Arlanda International Airport. The man ahead of me was quite a big guy. As an airport baggage handler checked through a customer at the roadside, he accidentally knocked over the man's luggage. He quickly collected the fallen bags and apologized for his mistake. However,the traveler burst into anger, shouting at the baggage handler for his carelessness. The baggage handler calmly apologized and smiled all the time. The customer continued to berate the man, even as he turned away and headed for his gate. Through it all the baggage handler smiled and remained calm. The other customers in line witnessed the incident and admired the baggage handler's professionalism and self-control. "I have never seen such restraint and humility," one of the customers sighed, "How do you keep your cool when somebody is attacking you so viciously?" "It's easy," the baggage handler answered. "He's going to London, but his bags are going to Tokyo." I won't recommend that we use revenge to relieve stress. But let me tell you about one of my friends who has found a way to go through most of his life unaffected by the _ that disturbs most people. He is one of the calmest people I've ever known and he describes how he keeps his cool no matter how turbulent a situation becomes. He says, "I look at it this way. A traffic jam has no power to make me angry. It just stops my car. And that's the way I try to look at most of what happens to me." With that philosophy, this guy goes through life with a calmness I can only envy. My friend likes to say things like, "A rude customer has no power to make me angry; he just fusses." And, "A mistake I made has no power to make me upset; it's just a chance to do better." He shows how we can truly find calmness in the midst of chaos. The airport baggage handler remained calm during the customer's berating because _ . Answer: Plaintiff sued Defendant for personal injuries suffered in a train-automobile collision. Plaintiff called an eyewitness, who testified that the train was going 20 miles per hour. Defendant then offers the testimony of an experienced police accident investigator that, based on his training and experience and on his examination of the physical evidence, it is his opinion that the train was going between 5 and 10 miles per hour. Testimony by the investigator is Answer: From Japan to Indonesia, a certain kind of pop culture is very hot. But it doesn't come from Hollywood--it's Hallyu , the wave of Korean pop culture that has washed over Asia. It has influenced everything from music to television. And thanks to the Internet and social media, it's now spreading worldwide. South Korea produces all types of entertainment, the most popular being music, soap operas and films. What makes Hallyu so hot in Asia? One reason is that its products are of high quality and much cheaper than western products. Another reason is that eastern cultures are similar to each other, although there are language differences. Korean pop music, or "K-pop", ranks the first everywhere. Fans love the songs and the attractive stars. Companies like SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment help many K-pop stars, such as Super Junior, Big Bang and Rain, to succeed. They are not only popular in Asia but also enjoy popularity in the West. In 2011, Big Bang's mini-album Tonight reached the top 10 on U.S. Tunes Top Pop Albums. When SM Entertainment took their 2010 world tour to Los Angeles, only 30 percent of the 15,000 fans were Korean. Half of the audience wasn't even Asian! One important reason for the success of Hallyu is simply the Internet. A little more than 10 years ago, Korean soap operas, movies and music reached the outside world quite slowly. They began in Korea, and then gradually spread outward, appearing in its neighboring countries where local TV and radio companies would play them. Now they are played around the world online at the same time. YouTube is another major way to get Korean entertainment to fans everywhere. It is an inexpensive and _ way for artists to introduce their work to a larger audience. In 2010 the YouTube channels for the top three Korean entertainment groups together had nearly 800 million views from 225 different countries. The author shows the popularity of K-pop in the West _ . Answer: Canada is a the second largest country in the world. But it has a very small population. There are only about 29 million people there. Most Canadians are of British or French origin, and French is an official language of Canada as well as English. About 45% of the people are of British origin, that is, they or their parents or grandparents, etc. , come from Britain. Nearly 30% are of French origin. Most of the French-Canadians live in the province of Quebec . Over the years, people have come to live in Canada from many countries in the world. They are from most European countries and also from China, besides other Asian countries. However, Canada was not an empty country when the Europeans began to arrive. Canadian Indians lived along the coast, by the rivers and lakes and in forests. Today there are only about 350,000 Indians in the whole country, with their own languages. In the far north live the Inuit. There are only 27,000 Canadian-Inuit. Their life is hard in such a difficult climate. The official languages of Canada are _ . Answer: Selfie is a photograph taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. In the digital age, selfies have taken off in a way that no one could have predicted. The art of the selfie is one that lots of people have practiced and perfected in recent years. A recent study shows 91 percent of teens have posted a photo of themselves online. Some celebrities are regular selfie posters, too. It seems that selfies are more than just a trend. They are here to stay. Why are selfies so popular? The appeal of selfies comes from how easy they are to create and share. And posting selfies is popular for another reason: you can control your own image. "I like having the power to choose how I look," admits Samantha, a 19-year-old girl from Missouri, "even if I'm making a face." Actually, the most common selfie is the one where you look cute, partly because it's a quick way to get positive comments about your appearance. "If I feel pretty, I take one," says Andrew, a 23-year-old girl from Maryland, "when other people Like it, it's a mini boost of confidence." Sure, showing off a new coat or that you're at a cool event is fun, but can be a trap to fall in. There's a danger that your self-respect may start to be tied to the comments and Likes you get when you post a selfie, and they aren't based on who you are--they are based on what you look like. Seeking validation is totally normal, and it's a healthy way for teenagers to develop their identity. But with social networks, where it's easy to get quick approval almost constantly, the selfie thing can quickly go out of control. It may even start to feel like an addiction: when you get a "LIKE", you're up. But when you get nothing, your confidence can decrease quickly. Overall, opinions vary on selfie culture. It's up to you to shape the future of the habit. Ask yourself: are my selfies for fun, or do I need the comments? If you belong to the latter, it's recommended that you change your view. That could mean cutting selfies out entirely or just cutting down and making them more fun. So maybe you like to travel, or read or dance, or create crazy 3-D nail art...post them! Take it from us: it's so much more interesting. According to the passage, selfie is a type of _ . Answer:
What is significant about the discovery of water on Mars? A It proves there is life on Mars. B It provides evidence there may be life on Mars. C It proves there was an advanced civilization on Mars. D It provides evidence of an advanced civilization on Mars. Answer: B Born in a landowner family, Modest Mussorgsky learned his first lessons in piano from his mother. When he turned nine, Mussorgsky had already started performing for family and friends. The very next year, he was admitted to St. Peter's School and then went ahead to publish a piano piece called Porte-enseigne Polka, which was funded by his father. The family tradition of military service was carried on by Mussorgsky, as he joined the Cadet School of the Guards at age of 13. There he continued to take piano lessons with the General's daughter. He graduated from the school in 1856. While in service, he developed friendship with Alexander Borodin and Alexander Dargomyzhsky, the famous Russian composers who had a deep impact on his musical career. Mussorgsky decided to devote his life to music in 1858, he joined Mikhail Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar. He produced a four-hand piano sonata in 1860 which was his only movement in sonata form. By this time, he had finished his studies. In the same year, he began to work on an opera called Salammbo on which he spent three years of his life. But, his musical career came to a standstill after his mother died in 1865. This led him into alcoholism. In 1867, he finished Night on Bald Mountain which was his most famous composition. During 1868-1869, he composed an opera describing the life of the Tsars which was rejected by Mariinsky Theatre. Later, he made a few changes to the opera and the new version was accepted in May, 1872. His alcoholism made him drift away from his circle of friends and worsened his situation in later life. His later year's compositions include Sunless and Khovanschina. Though his physical condition improved for some weeks, he soon passed away on March 28, 1881, a week after his 42nd birthday. What happened in Mussorgsky's later life? A He gave up his musical career. B His physical condition improved a lot. C He lost many friends D He made his greatest achievements Answer: C When I was five years old. I took a boat out on the river and went fishing by myself. I really wanted to catch a fish! But they were not biting. I stayed in my boat for three days, waiting. A few times, I thought I felt a fish at the end of the line. The first time I pulled in my catch, it was not a fish; it was an old bag. The second time, it was a shoe. Finally, at the end of the third day, I felt a strong pull at the end of the line. The pull was so strong they my boat raced around and around. I needed all my power just to hold onto the fishing rod. I pulled, and I pulled and I caught the biggest fish that ever swam on the Earth! It was heavier than everyone in this room put together! Then something terrible happened! After I pulled the huge fish into my boat, I saw that the boat was going under water! Water was coming into the boat from all sides! I was not a very good swimmer, so I was scared. Although it was the hardest choice I ever made. I had to let the fish go. I pushed it back over the side of the boat, and we waved good-bye to each other as it swam away. What did the writer get when he pulled in his catch the second time? A A shoe B An old bag C A fish D A small boat Answer: A A different sort of _ is developing in the workplace. Someone --- specifically the father-daughter team of Larry and Meagan Johnson --- has figured out that on some American job sites, five generations are working side by side. In their new book about generations in the workplace the pair argue that while such an age difference adds a lot of texture and a variety of life experiences, it can also bring tensions and conflicts. The Johnsons are human-resource trainers and public speakers. Dad Larry is a former health-care executive; daughter Meagan is a onetime high-level sales manager. Here are the oldest and youngest of the five generations they identify: They call the oldest group Traditionals, born before 1945. They were heavily influenced by the lessons of the Great Depression and World War Two. They respect authority, set a high standard of workmanship, and communicate easily and confidently. But they're also stubbornly independent. They want their opinions heard. At the other extreme are what the Johnsons call Linksters, born after 1995 into today's more complicated, multi-media world. They live and breathe technology and are often social activists. You won't find many 15-year olds in the offices of large companies, except as volunteers, of course, but quite old and quite young workers do come together in sales environments like bike shops and ice-cream stores. The Johnsons, Larry and Meagan, represent a generation gap themselves in their work with jobsite issues. The Johnsons' point is that as the average lifespan continues to rise and retirement dates get delayed because of the tight economy, people of different generations are working side by side, more often bringing with them very different ideas about company loyalty and work values. The five generations are heavily influenced by quite different events, social trends, and the cultural phenomena of their times. Their experiences shape their behavior and make it difficult, sometimes, for managers to achieve a strong and efficient workplace. Larry and Meagan Johnson discuss all this in greater detail in a new book, "Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters --- Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work," published by Amacom Press, which is available in all good bookstore from this Friday. According to the passage, modern workforces are more diverse because _ . A people want to increase their average lifespan B many young people are entering the workforce C employees with different values can benefit their companies D retirement dates are being delayed for economic reasons Answer: D When people are dirty, they take a bath or a shower. Animals don't have soap , but they do keep themselves clean. Many animals with hair, such as dogs and cats, keep themselves clean by licking their hair. They also use their teeth to pull out small dirty things from their hair. When they lick their hair, it is almost as if they are using a wet brush to clean themselves. Birds take baths to stay clean. First they walk through water that is not deep. Next they beat their wings to dry themselves. Birds also take sand baths on the ground. It is thought that they do this to drive away parasites . Even fish need cleaning. Fish have very little parasites that live in their mouths. Some fish live by eating these parasites off other fish. Such fish are called "cleaner fish". Larger fish will open their mouths so that the cleaner fish can get in to clean. Some animals that live in groups clean each other, such as monkeys. They often clean one another. One monkey may clean an area that the other monkey can't reach. How interesting it is! The best title of the passage is _ . A Animals Keeping Clean B Different Animals C Driving Away Parasites D Monkeys Living in Groups Answer: A
One spring, when I was 10, during one of my father's layoffs, I could tell my mother was dispiriteD.I decided to cheer her up by buying her a special Mother's Day gift. One day after school I rode my bike to the Agins, which, I learned years later, was known for its high-end fashions and style.I introduced myself to Sylvia Agins, telling her I was looking for a Mather's Day present. "Do you think she'd like a purse?" she askeD.I told her.I thought she might. She took out an Italian handbag made of leather. She asked me what I thought, and I told her that my mom would like it. "How much money do you have?" she asked. "Twelve bucks," I said. "You're in luck," she told me. "It's only $11. You have a dollar left over for the card." She gift-wrapped the purse and thanked me for my business, and I rode off home with the package under my arm. When my mother opened the gift the next Sunday morning, she asked in an accusing tone, "Where did you get this?" "I bought it at the Agins. It cost me $11." I said. My mother was shocked into silence. It wasn't until many years later, when I learned that the purse was worth several hundred dollars, that I appreciated just how wonderful Sylvia Agins had been to me. I always felt bad that I never had a chance to properly thank her. "You know, my son, what really amazes me to this day," my mother saiD."Letting you have the purse for just a few dollars was unbelievable enough. But the fact that she let you leave the store with a dollar for the card was a touch of kindness that I'll never forget. " Why was the author's mother shocked? Answer: The Agins charged so little money for the purse. One day an American friend invited me to a party. It wasn't a real party, it was some kind of informal get-together. Since it was summer time, he had a cookout where most of his American friends and s were known to me, but there were others I had never met before. It was the most embarrassing party for me when I noticed that everybody was wearing jeans and simple T-shirts for the day, while I arrived in proper dress with my shoes and my hair all fixed for a fancy party. It was hard to explain my embarrassment to other guests. When one of them turned around and said, "What nice clothes! What's the occasion?" I felt my face burning hot with embarrassment. I did not answer at all. If she knew how bad I already felt, she wouldn't have come near me. But she did. Maybe she didn't ask _ to make me feel bad or uncomfortable, but my reaction had to do with the way I already felt. I could have told her I had to go to another party afterwards, but I did not want to continue the conversation. Many times I thought about going home and changing, but I knew that they would notice. It would be even worse for me, because I knew they would quickly think that I felt out of place. So I wanted to pretend that I was okay... I had already realized their customs were different from mine; but after I talked to my friend, I was more convinced that people here are more casual (,). They care less about formality, unless it is a special occasion, like a wedding or a very formal invitation. In contrast, my culture is totally the opposite. For instance, inprefix = st1 /CapeVerdeanculture, if a friend invited me to his house on a special day, even if it is not a real party, one should appear well dressed or otherwise the host will be annoyed thinking you are disrespectful to him or the other guests. We do dress casually for going on picnic or on ordinary days, but not normally to go over to a friend's when invited, especially if other people will be there. After all, I think that my problem at the party wasn't that I wasn't accepted by the Americans; but my feeling was so bad that I couldn't fit in the group even if nobody noticed, because I was the one who discovered the difference in the first place. It doesn't matter if people dress differently, but I was the only one different in the group. I felt I was the one who should adjust to their customs. After that, I decided to learn more about American culture, so now I don't have as many problems as I've had in the past. It can be inferred from the story that the author _ . Answer: probably didn't enjoy the cookout Which likely has a negative impact? Answer: heat on the glaicial environment Like many other places in the world, recently, Indiana education officials decided that the schools of the state will not be required to teach handwriting skills to students any longer. Instead, they will focus their energies on teaching students how to type. Is handwriting still an important skill? An online survey received some surprising responses. Handwriting is not necessary. Students only need to know how to read it, and the only time that they must write something is to make a signature. Why stress them more than they need to be stressed? We already put so much pressure on them to perform on state tests. --Rita Children don't write letters now. They send e-mails or text messages. A lot of those old ways are going away. How many bills do you pay by writing a check anymore? --Brown Although my son is not comfortable with writing, I bought a workbook for him to practice his handwriting. Can you imagine being an adult and not being able to sign a document? --Susan What a shame! I guess one day it will be a lost art, because handwriting is that personal and beautiful. It has personality --Anna The school where I worked dropped handwriting several years ago. Unless the students have computers in class, they will not be able to take notes at high speed. I have to speak very slowly and stop after a sentence or two because many students write very slowly. --Helen The same thing happened here in Tennessee this past year. I think it's a shame. I just received a handwritten letter from my stepmother and it meant that she spent time sitting and writing. Such a letter brought me a good feeling. --Kathy Children should still learn writing, for the sake of having a skill that all people can communicate with. I certainly appreciate a handwritten note of thanks or news from my children and grandchildren. --Ruth Which of the following isTRUE? Answer: Susan values her son's handwriting very much. Once an old man went to see a doctor. The doctor looked him over carefully and said, "Medicine won't help you. You must have a good rest. Go to bed early, drink milk, walk a lot and smoke one cigar a day. Go to the country place for a month." After a month the man came to see the doctor again. "How are you?" said the doctor. "I'm glad to see you again. You look much younger." "Oh, doctor, I feel quite well now,"said the man. "I had a good rest. I went to bed early, drank a lot of milk and walked a lot. Your advice certainly helped me, but that you told me to smoke one cigar a day almost killed me first. It's no joke to start smoking at my age." The doctor told the man _ . Answer: Both
Question: A recent research shows that physical activity may help students do better in their classes. The research comes because educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like P.E. class. Researchers go over the results of fourteen studies. Twelve were from the United States, one from Canada and one from South Africa. The studies appeared between 2009 and 2013. They included more than 55,000 children, aged six to eighteen. Thomas Singh, one of the researchers, says the studies showed a relationship between physical activity and scores on subjects such as math, English and reading. Ms. Singh offers some possible explanations : " There are, first, physiological explanations, like more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brain. Being physically active means there are more hormones( ) produced like endorphins ( ). And endorphins make your stress level lower and your mood improved, which means you will perform better in class. Also, students who take part in organized sports learn rules and how to follow them. This could improve their classroom behavior and help them know what they should do. All in all, the finding tells us that physically active kids are more likely to do better in school. Ms. Singh says schools should consider the finding before they cut physical education programs. Which of the following is NOT one of the advantages of physical activity according to the passage? A. Getting more blood flow. B. Better classroom behavior. C. Feeling relaxed and refreshed. D. Greater ability to organize activities. Answer: C. Feeling relaxed and refreshed. Question: Singapore's public transport system is one of the best in the world, so you should have no problem finding your way around like a local. There are three main forms of public transport that you would find in any other major city--trains, buses and taxis. TRAINS Trains run from 6:00 am to midnight. Single trip tickets start at 80 cents. If you buy an EZ-Link cars for $15, you can ride the trains and buses as you like. If you need more information, just call Transit Link on 1800 767 4333. BUSES There are several bus services in Singapore and fares start at 80 cents. Be sure always to ask the driver the cost of your ticket as he can not give change. If you need help, just call Transit Link on 1800 767 4333. TAXIS There are three main taxi companies--City Cab (6552 2222), Comfor (6552 1111) and Tibs (6552 8888). Booking can also be easily by calling the numbers listed above. RENABLE CARS Driving in Singapore is a pleasure and if you like to travel at your own pace, renting a car is a good choice. Renting takes away the _ of getting to places around Singapore. Just sit back and enjoy the city. It also means you'll get to see a lot more that a train or a bus won't let you see. For car rental, call Avis on + 65 6737 1668. When you take a bus there, always remember to _ . A. take your own license with you B. ask the driver how much your ticket is C. buy the bus map of Singapore D. book your ticket ahead of time Answer: B. ask the driver how much your ticket is Question: Four decades ago a group of college students visited the mountains of Borneo to examine moth populations. Now a team of British scientists, including a member of the original trip, has returned to the same sites to repeat the survey. They have found that, due to rising temperatures, the insects now live 68 meters higher. Global warming is forcing tropical species uphill to escape the rising temperatures at a rate of nearly 2 meters a year, the new study from Borneo suggests. Since this was the only chance to repeat the original survey, the scientist did everything they could to do it exactly the same way, going at the same time of year, in July and August, using photographs to find the exact original sites of the moth traps. "While this is the first study of insects, a few other studies of tropical species are starting to appear," said Thomas. "If you look across all those studies, you'll find the same results, and it's extremely difficult to think of any other explanation for them." While some species might survive by finding places on the mountains with temperatures similar to those of their original habitats, others may run out of habitat on the rocky peaks, warns the study. In a paper in the journal Naturein 2004, Thomas and 13 other experts analyzed the habitats of 1,100 species on five continents, and estimated that on average one quarter were at risk of extinction. Last year a paper published in the Public Library of Science in the US warned that the risk of extinction in the tropics was becoming more and more serious. The authors, Jana and Steven Vamosi, estimated that 20-45% of tropical species were at risk of extinction. If the temperature continues to rise at the same rate for ten years, the insects will live about _ . A. 6.8 meters higher B. 19 meters higher C. 34 meters higher D. 68 meters higher Answer: B. 19 meters higher Question: Almost anywhere in the world, you can probably see graffiti . Although it's usually more common in big cities, it can be found in almost any community, big or small. The problem with graffiti art is the question of whether it's really art. This isn't always an easy question to answer, simply because there are so many different types of graffiti. While some simply consists of collections of letters, known as tags, with little artistic value, such examples are easy to find, especially on larger spaces such as walls. If it weren't for the fact that most graffiti is placed on private property without permission, it might be more commonly recognized as a legal form of art. Most graffiti, however, annoys the property owner, who is more likely to paint over it or remove it than accept it as art. Many ways of removing graffiti have been developed, such as paints that dissolve graffiti paint, or make it easy to remove. Community groups and government departments often organize graffiti-removal teams. It hardly makes sense to encourage artists to deface private or public property; but perhaps there are ways to work with them rather than just oppose them. Graffiti artists can, for example, create murals for property owners, and get paid for them. Maybe we need to start at a very basic level, and find a way to encourage the creation of graffiti art on paper or canvas rather than on walls. After all, who would remember Monet or Picasso if they'd created their masterpieces on walls, only to have them painted over the next day? Finding a solution to such a complex problem is never going to be easy, but with more and more graffiti art being recognized in galleries around the world, we do need to try. The writer's attitude toward graffiti is that graffiti _ . A. should be removed by more countries B. should be saved on larger spaces C. should be created only on paper or canvas D. may be accepted as art Answer: D. may be accepted as art Question: I was sitting in the room reading when I heard a loud noise. To defend my home from break-in, I picked up my defense weapon--- a broom and went out. There on the roof of my porch , I saw a grey fluffy squirrel. I drove her away with the broom, but the next day I heard her again. I searched squirrels on the net and found because their teeth keep growing, they have to constantly chew on things to shorten their teeth. This was disturbing so I asked my husband to call in some wildlife control people. On Monday morning two men showed up, with guns in their hands. I pointed uneasily to the hole in my porch roof. They held up their guns. Suddenly I saw in my mind the baby nursery inside. I stopped them and confirmed that they wouldn't harm her. They hesitated, but finally put down their guns. Then they brought out a bottle of deodorizer and sprayed it into the squirrel's home. They told me she would not like the smell and would leave. There was no sign of Mrs. Squirrel, so they blocked the hole, took my cheque for $250 and left. Shortly after they left, Mrs. Squirrel returned from her shopping trip. She was mad at being driven out and began feverishly clawing at the porch roof. In order to stop the destruction of my home, I drove her away with the broom again. Each day thereafter, Mrs. Squirrel continued her attack on my possession. I then called the company to report that "SHE'S BAAAAAACK..." The receptionist said that if Mrs. Squirrel had managed to find another way into my porch roof, it would be a new charge. I replied I couldn't continue contributing my husband's hard-earned income to their silly wildlife experts and hang up. I went to the porch and banged on the roof. Mrs. Squirrel came out and glared at me. We negotiated some terms, came to an agreeable arrangement and went back into our respective homes. All is quiet these days, although large quantities of materials have been removed from my garage wall and my daughter claims that some of her doll-house furniture has disappeared. I still hope that Mrs. Squirrel would leave, but I will wait until it is warmer and hopefully until after the birth of the little ones. Why didn't the author ask the wildlife control people to come again? A. She worried about the safety of the squirrel. B. She thought the company charged too much. C. She decided to drive away the squirrel herself. D. She doubted the ability of the wildlife control people. Answer: B. She thought the company charged too much.
Bill,a 13-year-old boy, thought he had grown up to be a man. But his parents told him, "You won't be a real man until you begin to think about helping others." One moming, his parents gave him some money to buy some milk. Outside a shop he saw a homeless old~man who looked very sick. Bill went to him and asked. "what's wrong with you?" The old man answered, "I'm hungry,I haven't had any food for two days". "Let's go to the restaurant." When they got there, Bill asked the waiter to bring out bread and coffee to the old man. The old man finished the meal quickly. Afier the waiter took away the plate and the cup, the old man said, "Sorry for giving you too much trouble. I'm fine now. I'Il never forget your kindness! You're a very good young man." Bill was happy when he heard this. Just when he wanted to pay for the meal, the waiter came.To their surprise, Bill and the old man leamed that their food was free because it was the birthday of the boss, and they were the first customers that day. Bill's parents said when he thought of _ Answer: It is a finding which is certain to be hotly discussed. According to the latest research, women are brighter than men. For the first time in IQ testing, psychologists have found that female scores have risen above those of men. Since IQ testing began a century ago, women have been as much as five points behind. But that gap has been narrowing in recent years and this year women have moved ahead, according to James Flynn, leader of the research. "In the last 100 years the IQ scores of both men and women have risen but women's have risen faster," said Mr. Flynn. "This is a result of modernity, which is making our brains adapt and raising our IQ." One possible explanation is that women's lives have become more demanding as they multitask between raising a family and doing a job. Another is that women have a slightly higher potential intelligence than men and are only now realizing it. Mr. Flynn, who will publish his findings in a book, said more data was needed to explain the trend. "The full effect of modernity on women is only just starting," he added. He compared IQ result from countries in western Europe and from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina and Estonia. These showed that in westernized countries the gap in scores between men and women had become minimal . The data for making comparison was limited and could be carried out for only a few countries. It included Australia, where male and female IQs were found to be almost the same. In New Zealand, Estonia and Argentina, women scored slightly more than men. Mr. Flynn said, "As the world gets more complex, people are adapting." He added, "I suspect that the same trends are happening in Britain, although the data is too limited to be true." The text is likely to be found in _ . Answer: It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry , but there was not any meat in the house. Considering that there was no better way. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it:"Give my dog half a pound of meat."Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently:"Take this to the butcher(* person whose job is selling meat)and he's going to give you your lunch today." Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once. At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more. The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers. But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled . He said to himeself,"This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?" Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it! From its experience, the dog found that _ . Answer: If you want to keep healthy, you should have good habits. What is a habit? It is something we do very often. We don't even think when we do it. It has become a part of our lives. "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." This is an old English saying. Do you know what it means? It means that we must go to bed early at night and get up early in the morning. If we do, we shall be healthy, rich and clever. Is this true? Perhaps it is. We know the body must have enough sleep. Boys and girls need eight or nine hours' sleep every day. Some people go to bed late at night and get up late in the morning. This is a very bad habit. Then you will not think or do your work well. Of course, you can't be healthy, wealthy or wise. When we get up early in the morning, we can go out and do morning exercises. Exercise means doing things with the body. Walking, running jumping, swimming, and playing ball games are all exercise. If we don't exercise, our body will become weak. Exercise helps the blood to move around inside our body. Blood takes food to all parts of our body. Our body also needs air to breathe. Without air, we will die. We must have lots of clean fresh air if we want to be healthy. That is why many people like to go out to do morning exercise. Which sport is NOT mentioned in the passage? Answer: To win an Oscar is an achievement at any age. To do so at 22, as Jennifer Lawrence has, is just amazing. Recently, the American star won Best Actress at this year's Academy Awards for her role in the film The Silver Linings Playbook. According to Time magazine's Richard Corliss, Lawrence is that rare young actress who "lends a mature intelligence to any role". Though Lawrence has found great success through her big screen work, Lawrence wasn't sure what she really liked doing before the age of 14. She thought she'd go to college and maybe find a career as a doctor or a travel agent. Lawrence's two brothers were star athletes and one of them was a straight-A student. Unlike them, she suffered through school, never quite finding where she belonged. However, during a trip to New York, Lawrence suddenly realized that she wanted to be an actress. When she was enjoying the beautiful city, a model seeker asked if he could take her picture, and the next day he called her in for an audition . "I read the script and it was the first time I had that feeling like I understand this," Lawrence said. "Within 20 minutes, in the cab ride from the hotel room, I decided I didn't want to be a model. In fact, I wanted to be an actress." Having appreciated this young lady's performance, the agency was so impressed with her reading that they signed her on the spot. But she insisted on finishing high school so she could give her full attention to her acting career. Lawrence burst onto the Hollywood scene last year with The Hunger Games, which established her as the highest-grossing female action hero of all time. Rolling Stone called her"the most talented young actress in America". What is the best title of the text? Answer:
Question: An experiment was carried out at British school into the performance of new pupils. At the start of the year, the pupils were each given a _ , ranging from "excellent prospect" to "unlikely to do well". These were totally untrue ratings and did not reflect how well the pupils had previously performed. However, these ratings were given to the teachers. At the end of the year, the experimenters compared the pupils' performance with the ratings. Despite their real abilities, there was an astonishingly high connection between performance and ratings. It seems that people perform as well as we expect them to. The Self-fulfilling Effect is also known as the Pygmalion Effect. This comes from an old Greek story. The story was also the basis of George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion", later turned into the musical "My Fair Lady". In Shaw's play, Professor Henry Higgins claims he can turn a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle into a duchess. But, as Eliza herself points out to Higgins' friend Pickering, it isn't what she learns or does that determines whether she will become a duchess, but how she's treated. The implication of the Pygmalion Effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the performance of your team depends less on them than it does on you. The performance you get from people is no more or less than what you expect, which means you must always expect the best. As Goethe said, "Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be." According to the Pygmalion Effect, if you want a man to finish a hard task in a short time, you should say, " _ ". A. I'm sure you can make it B. I will help you any time C. It is as easy as pie D. It doesn't matter if you fail Answer: A. I'm sure you can make it Question: When it comes to protecting the privacy of their children, U.S. parents give social networks a failing grade. According to a recent survey, three out of four parents believe social networks are not doing a good job of protecting kids' online privacy. The survey was conducted for Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping families find the right way to deal with the world of media and technology. Ninety-two percent of parents said they are concerned that children share too much information online, and 85 percent said they are more concerned about online privacy than they were five years ago. In other findings, Common Sense Media found that 68% of parents are not at all confident in search engines keeping their private information safe and secure and 71% of parents said the same about social networking sites. The survey found a great deal of concern about the online geo-location services which find and show the exact position of somebody through the net. Ninety-one percent of parents said search engines and social networking sites should not be able to share the physical location of children with other companies unless the parents approve. "The survey results present a clear divide between the industry's view of privacy and the opinion of parents and kids," Common Sense Media CEO and founder James Steyer said. "American families are deeply worried about how their personal information is being used by technology and online companies, yet the companies appear to be keeping their heads deep in the sand," Steyer said. IT companies need to step up but parents, children, schools and government also need to do more, he said. "Parents and kids have to educate themselves about how to protect their information," he said. "Schools should teach all students and their parents about privacy protection." "And finally, policymakers have to update privacy policies for the 21st century," he said. According to the survey, more than 60 percent of parents want the US Congress to update online privacy laws for children and teenagers. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage? A. US Congress to Update Privacy Policies for 21st Century B. Common Sense Media Warns Against Social Networks C. US Parents Want Better Online Privacy Protection for Kids D. Worry Grows for Problems Caused by Social Networks Answer: C. US Parents Want Better Online Privacy Protection for Kids Question: Are you interested in country music? I like it very much !It will take me away for a while after I am tired . The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields. Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It's the spirit of America ,easy to understand ,slow and simple. Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of famers . They talk about love, crops or death. The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s,people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records. When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America. John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is well-known and people still play it today. ,,. ( ,2,10) Who is famous for the song "Take Me Home,Country Roads"? A. A farmer in the countryside. B. A person who moved to towns C. John Denver. D. Denver John. Answer: C. John Denver. Question: Mr. John and Mr. Brown work in the same office. One day Mr. John says to Mr. Brown, "I will have a small party in our house on Monday evening. Would you and your wife like to come?" Mr. Brown says, "Thank you very much. I'd love to, but let me ask my wife first." So Mr. Brown goes to the other room and telephones his wife. Then he comes back and looks very worried. "What's the matter?" asks Mr. John. "Is your wife there at home?" "No," answers Mr. Brown. "She isn't there. My small son answers the telephone. I say to him, 'Is your mother there, David?' and he answers 'No, she isn't in the house. ''Where is she?' I ask, 'She is somewhere outside.' 'What's she doing?' 'She is looking for me.'" ,. The telephone is in _ office. A. Mr. Brown's B. Mr. John's C. the other D. David's Answer: C. the other Question: which one of these would be easiest to measure with a tape? A. a quart of motor oil B. contents of a wine bottle C. contents of a can of beer D. a freshly baked loaf of bread Answer: D. a freshly baked loaf of bread
Without the atmosphere there would be no weather, no wind, rain, snow, or clouds. Air is all around us; we live at the bottom of a great ocean of air. It is invisible, but we can feel it when it moves. There are miles of air above us, pressing down with great weight on the earth and everything on it. Because air presses down on us from all directions at the same time, and because we are able to bear this weight, we do not seem to feel it. But scientists have proved that air has this weight, and that anything that has weight creates a force called pressure. As changes in air pressure take place, they, make air move. Air is a gas that expands when heated, gets lighter, and moves upward. When air is cooled, it gets heavier, sinks close to the earth's surface, and flows like water in a great river. As warn air rises, cold air rushes in to take its place. 'Thus winds originate . The winds that blow high above us are caused by the warmer air running away from colder air. The wind we feel near the earth's surface is the heavy colder air trying hard to catch the warmer air. Changes in temperature cause the air to move. And of course there are many changes, so air movements are taking place practically all the time. Air moves under such conditions that A. there is air pressure B. the air is heavy C. air pressure doesn't remain the same all the time D. air comes up and down Answer: C. air pressure doesn't remain the same all the time I was telling my boy Sonny the story of the hare and the tortoise . At the end I said, " Son, remember: Be slow and steady , and that will win the race. Don't you think there's something to learn from the tortoise?" Sonny opened his eyes wide, "Do you mean next time when I'm entering for the 60-metre race I should wish that Billy, Tony and Sandy would all fall asleep halfway?" I was shocked, "But the tortoise didn't wish that the hare would fall asleep!" "He must have wished that," Sonny said, "Otherwise how could he be so foolish as to race with the hare? He knew very well the hare ran a hundred times faster than he himself did." "He didn't have such a wish," I insisted. "He won the race by perseverance , by pushing on steadily." Sonny thought a while. "That's a lie," he said. "He won it because he was lucky. If the hare hadn't happened to fall asleep, the tortoise would never have won the race. He could be as steady as you like, or a hundred times steadier, but he'd never have won the race. That's for sure." I gave up. Today's children are not like what we used to be. They're just hopeless. Sonny believed that the tortoise _ . A. won the race by his own hard working B. took a risk by agreeing to run a race C. was not given a fair chance in the race D. in fact did win the race luckily Answer: D. in fact did win the race luckily What exactly is a lie? Is it anything we say which we know is untrue? Or is it something more than that? For example, suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from you. You say, "I wish I could help you but I'm short of money myself." In fact you are not short of money but your friend is in the habit of not paying his debts and you don't want to hurt his feelings by reminding him of this. Is this really a lie? Professor Gerald Gullion of theprefix = st1 /UniversityofSouthern Californiahas made a scientific study of lying. According to him, women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a "white lie", such as a woman at a party telling another woman that she likes her dress when she really thinks it looks awful. However, this is only one side of the story. Other researchers say that men are more likely to tell more serious lies, such as making a promise which they have no intention of fulfilling. This is the kind of lie politicians and businessmen are supposed to be particularly skilled at: the lie from which the liars hopes to profit or gain in some way. Research has also been done into the changes of people's behavior in a number of small, clearly unimportant ways when they lie. It has been found that if they are sitting down at the time, they tend to move about in their chairs more than usual. To the trained observer they are saying "I wish I were somewhere else now". They also tend to touch certain parts of the face more often, in particular the nose. One explanation of this may be that lying causes a slight increase in blood pressure. The nose is very sensitive to such changes and the increased pressure makes it itch . Another gesture which gives away is what the writer Desmond Morris in his bookMan Watchingcalls "the mouth cover". He says there are several typical forms of this, such as covering part of the mouth with fingers, touching the upper-lip or putting a finger of the hand at one side of the mouth. Such a gesture can be understood, as an unconscious attempt on the part of the liar to stop himself or herself from lying. Of course, such gestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth, or moving about in a chair cannot be taken as proof that the speaker is lying. They simply tend to occur more frequently in this situation. It is not one gesture alone that gives the liar away but a whole number of things, and in particular the context in which the lie is told. According to the passage, a "white lie" seems to be a lie _ . A. that other people have interest in B. that other people cannot believe C. told in order to avoid offending someone D. told in order to take advantage of someone Answer: C. told in order to avoid offending someone prefix = st1 /NEW YORK--So we're going away on weekends and sticking close to home. But are we traveling with the kids? Here's how the down economy is changing the way we travel. SECONDARY CITIES Some smaller cities are stealing the glory . Fort Myers,Fla.experienced double digit growth in January 2009 over January 2008, based on American Express Travel bookings. Cities like Portland,Ore.are also becoming popular destinations, with Travelocity data showing an increase of 38% over last year. EvenPhiladelphia's star is rising, said Travelocity senior editor Shaw Brown. Brown said it's hard to explain exactly the reason for the _ : it could be a decrease in airfare or hotel prices or excellent marketing. Hotel rates inFort Myersare down about 10%. But hotel rates inPortlandare up, she said. She thinksPhiladelphia's higher popularity is due to good marketing, a decrease in airfare of 16% compared to the overall 8% decrease for domestic flights and more interest in historic destinations in general. FAMILY TRAVEL Rather than take a two-week vacation to Europe, families are going to national parks. David Mandt, spokesman for the Association of Amusement Parks, is cautiously optimistic about the summer season. He said even when gas was $4 a gallon in 2008, people continued to visit theme parks--they simply selected parks closer to their homes. While for years, park operators have used special offers, promotions and discounts to encourage families to visit at a specific time, the deals may be easier to find this year, especially when it comes to packages that include accommodations. Universal Orlando Resort has a deal allowing families to book a three-night package and receive two additional nights free. Packages include accommodations at a hotel near Universal and unlimited theme park admission to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It can be inferred from the news report that _ . A. the number of visitors to Fort Myersdoubled in a year B. secondary cities didn't enjoy much popularity before C. people visit smaller cities because hotel rates are down D. visitors are more interested in historic destinations now Answer: B. secondary cities didn't enjoy much popularity before Hi, I'm Nick. I am very busy from Monday to Friday. In the morning, I always get up and take a shower at six ten. After half an hour, I have breakfast. After I finish eating, I get dressed and go to school by bike. It takes me about twenty minutes to get to school. After school, I go to the English club. Because my English is not very good, I join the English club at school. The students in the club get together to practice speaking English at half past five. We can talk in English and we can tell English stories in the club. It is good for us to improve our English. Which is TRUE according to the passage? A. It takes Nick about thirty minutes to get to school. B. Nick's English is good. C. The students in club can't tell English stories. D. Nick thinks the English club is good. Answer: D. Nick thinks the English club is good.
CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKETHIS? Every one of us gets so used to punctuation marks that not many of us give them a second thought. Actually, the ancient Greeks wrote this way. The lack of punctuation marks probably didn't bother good readers, though. As they read, they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time, sentences switched directions. A sentence read from left to right. The next one read right to left, and then left to right again, etc. The ancient Romans sometimes punctuated like this: They * put * something * that * can * separate * words * in * a * sentence. The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a dot. When the 5thcentury arrived, there were just two punctuation marks: spaces and points. The spaces separated words while the points showed pauses in reading. Then in the 13thcentury, a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation. He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence. He used a slash (/) to indicate a short pause. Over time, that slash was shortened and curled, and it became the modern comma . Since that time, other marks have enlarged the punctuation family. The exclamation mark comes from the Latin word io. It means "exclamation of joy." The question mark originally started out as the Latin word questio, meaning question. Eventually, scholars put it at the end of a sentence to show a question. Punctuation even keeps changing nowadays. New marks are coming into existence, and old punctuation marks are used in new ways. Take for example the "interrobang". This 1962 invention combines the question mark and exclamation mark for times when writers want both. For example, "She did what?" or "How much did you pay for that dress?" Obviously, the interrobang is not widely used or recognized yet, but its invention shows that English is not yet finished with its punctuation. We can learn from the passage that _ . Answer: Frank is my good friend. We are in the same class. He is fourteen, one year older than me. His parents are both teachers in No 7 Middle School. Frank studies hard. His English and math are very good. He often helps other students with their English and math. Our teachers like him very much. We go to school together by bike in the morning. We have lunch at school. After school in the afternoon, we often play sports. We play soccer and baseball. In the evening, he does his homework at home. Sometimes he watches soccer games on TV. On Sundays, he goes out with his parents in his father's car. They play in the park and do sports there. Sometimes my father takes me there, too. We play sports together. We have a good time. Frank _ at school. Answer: Mrs.Green was eighty,but she had a small car,and she always drove to the shops on Saturday and bought her food.She didn't drive fast because she was old,but she drove well and never hit anything. Sometimes her grandchildren said to her,"Please don't drive your car,grandmother.We can take you to the shops." But she always said,"No,I like driving.I've been driving it for fifty years,and I'm not going to stop driving." Last Saturday she stopped her car at some traffic lights because they were red and then it did not start again.The lights were green,then yellow,then red,then green again,but her car didn't start. "What am I going to do now? "she said. At this time a policeman came and said to her kindly,"Good morning.Don't you like any of our colours today? " It was _ years since she drove her small car. Answer: How much pocket money do you get from your parents every month? Maybe 200 yuan? But for Li Beibei, 30 yuan each month is enough. The only thing she buys is lunch--1.5 yuan each day. "Meat is too expensive for me," said Li. Li, 14, is a Junior 1 student at Beijing's Xingzhi Experimental School. Her parents are migrant workers . They came to Beijing from a village in Luohe, He'nan two years ago. Her father now works as a cleaner and gets 500 yuan every month. Her mother has no job. Li Beibei has 460 friends at Xingzhi. Every day, Li gets up at 5:30 am and rides her bike for 20 minutes to get to school. Like many teens, Li has a lot of homework--usually at least one hour every day. But that is not all her work. During the weekdays she helps her mum cook. On weekends, she helps wash clothes. "I could cook when I was eight. Dad said sometimes I cook better than Mum!" Li said she wanted to be a doctor. "I watch TV and find out there are many people with AIDS in He'nan. Some are kids. They need help," said Li. But she is afraid to leave school. "I hope I will always be in school," said Li. "Dad works hard to get money. I promise him I will study hard to be a good student and a good doctor in the future." Her wish is to be a doctor because she wants to _ . Answer: Ben When I left school five years ago, I said to myself, _ No more learning for me.Now I can enjoy myself in the evening." But about a year ago the boss said, "We're going to get a computer in the near future." What does he mean? I simply don't know.Anyway, I decided to go to evening classes.I'm quite an expert on computers now and you know, I actually enjoy studying. Eve I haven't much interest in studying.To be honest, I don't like reading very much, except for magazines and that sort of thing.Just reading, that is, to kill the time.But I do enjoy watching TV.Not that I watch everything.In fact, I choose my programmes very carefully.I'm particularly interested in current affairs .In some ways I think I learn more in this way than I did at school. Ted I'm a very different sort of person-I simply love doing things.That's why I enjoy sports so much.I mean, actually playing.I hardly ever watch it on TV, but I do read quite a bit about it.I'm even interested in the history of sports.I don't have much time for anything else, except that I quite like dancing.Some people say I'm not very good at it, though. Joan I should say I have great interest in studying.I'd rather do this than anything else.Since I left school.I've taken courses in all sorts of things.I go to the city library once a week, but I much prefer evening classes because it's more fun that way.My latest "craze "-if you can call it that -is foreign languages.I'm learning two, not one! In the future, we can infer that _ . Answer:
Question: The Production Department can be a fun place to work in a TV station. It can also be quite stressful if the station broadcasts a significant amount of live programming. There can be a number of interesting positions in this department. Here is a list of the core ones: The Production Manager heads the department, and is the person to contact if you are interested in working in this area. He or she oversees all activities in the studios, hires and fires workers, meets with customers who want to produce an advertisement, and monitors expense budgets for the department. The person in this position may also sometimes act as a Director, Producer, Camera Operator, or any other role in which they are proficient. Directors lead the crew during a production session. Over a headset, the Director tells Camera Operators what shots to get and the Technical Director (TD) what audio and video to put on the air. Directors work closely with the Producer of each program, ensuring that the final product meets with the Producer's demands. A Technical Director is a master at "punching" up the correct video source. In other words, if the Director calls for camera one, the Technical Director puts camera one on the air. The TD sits in front of a massive board called a "swicher" during production sessions, which allows him or her to literally switch between video sources. Since this can be a high-pressure, fast-moving job, the best Technical Directors are people who can stay even-tempered and in control. The Stage Manager is responsible for everything that goes on in the television studio. This person makes sure all of the equipment is in good working order, oversees the building and placement of all staging, and may even set the lighting for all productions. Really efficient Stage Managers take pride in their studios, and it would not be unusual to see this person sweeping the floor or cleaning the sets between productions. This is a leadership position, which often leads to promotion to the position of Production Manager. The Production Manager _ . A. seldom takes part in producing programs B. is also called "Producer" C. usually trains new workers in person D. is responsible to deal with advertisers Answer: D. is responsible to deal with advertisers Question: Which characteristic is the best example of an inherited trait? A. eye color B. an infection C. knowledge of soccer D. length of hair Answer: A. eye color Question: The best swimmers tend to be tall and thin with long arms, long legs, long feet, and long hands. The size of their hands gives them great "water grasp", and only a very small hand movement keeps them afloat. They also have great strength, endurance, insulation against heat loss while in water below body temperature, thus better energy conservation, low resistance when in the water, and swimming stroke mechanics . Part of the reason why some people are better swimmers than others has to do with body density. The average person's body density is slightly less than that of water. Muscle has greater density than fat. Therefore, very muscular people tend to be poor at staying afloat. Bone has greater density than fat. Therefore, very skinny people tend to be poor at staying afloat. Good buoyancy is not necessarily the most important factor in good swimming, but it certainly helps. For example, great competitive swimmers--tall, thin, and usually more muscular than average--tend to have greater body density than average and less buoyancy. Many would not float very well if they remained motionless in the water. Their much greater "water grasp" makes up for it. www.ks5u.com The average woman contains a higher proportion of fat in her body than the average man, and the average man contains a higher proportion of muscle in his body than the average woman. Therefore, in general, women are better floaters than men. Compared with other competitive sports, the performance of women is closer to that of men in competitive swimming. Buoyancy is important because_. A. it helps people to be safer in water B. it can help people to swim better C. it can never be trained to get better D. it increases swimming length Answer: B. it can help people to swim better Question: Looking back on my childhood. I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental arithmetic. Before Word War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects. I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people's observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle. Because it all seems to fit together .This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books. Which some may light honor, with the title of scientific research. But curiosity a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist? One of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds. The author can't remember him relatives clearly because _ A. He didn't live very long with them B. He was too young when he lived with them. C. The family was extremely large D. He was fully occupied with observing nature. Answer: D. He was fully occupied with observing nature. Question: Having spent two and a half years in China over several visits, I don't remember ever going through a phase we in the United States call "cultural shock". This period of difficulty in adjusting to a new culture would probably have set in during my semester at Peking University. Of course, this is not to say that I didn't notice any differences between the American and Chinese cultures upon my arrival at Peking University, I did notice the differences. Looking back, I remember one of the first differences I noticed: Chinese universities are surrounded by walls. To an American, this is one of the most striking aspects of a Chinese university which immediately sets it apart from an American campus. Having grown up in the United States, I had never seen a university surrounded by high, cement walls. My idea of a university, based on having seen scores of them in different states of the U.S., was a place of life and learning, an inseparable part of the community in which it was located, open not only to the students of the school itself, but also fully accessible to students from other schools and to the broader public. My idea of a university was that it was a center of cultural life, a resource for the entire community. In all my twenty-one years, it had never occurred to me that a school would have a wall around it. Walls enclose and separate; schools expand and integrate . _ I asked a Chinese friend if all Chinese universities have walls around them. "You know, I have never really thought about it. I guess so. I guess all Chinese schools have walls around them, not just universities." "Why?" I asked, "What's the point?" "I don't know. To protect us, I suppose." "From whom?" "I don't know. Don't you have walls around your schools in the United States?" I thought carefully before answering. "No, I've never seen or heard of a university encircled by a wall." My Chinese friend seemed puzzled. Walls around schools came to strike me as more than just an architectural difference between the United States and China. As China continues to open up to the outside world, these walls seem increasingly out of place. The author felt strange about Chinese culture when he _ . A. studied in Peking University B. talked with his friends about the walls C. experienced the "cultural shock" at his arrival D. spent two and a half years in China over several visits Answer: A. studied in Peking University
I was born in the Tronto, Canada. Life looked bright and was filled with hope for my parents and me. My father and mother were married in 1980, and I was born next year. As I grew into a man, I often looked to my father for advice and support. There were many things about his character that I admired, but like any young boy, I often thought that my father's ideas were from the past and out of date. I did well as a student and was the first person in my family to graduate from university. I went on to be a university professor and writer, and most people would say that I have had a very successful life. But I know much of my success is because of the lessons that he passed onto me. On Father's Day, I will look in the mirror and smile. My dad gave me many gifts, including my now bald head , and the friendly smile that my friends say I have. Thank you again, dad. I miss you. Happy Father's Day. From the passage we can know _ . Answer: Alexandra Scott was born to Liz and Jay Scott in Manchester,Connecticut on January 18, 1996,the second of four children. Shortly before her first birthday,Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma,a type of childhood cancer. On her first birthday, the doctors informed Alex's parents that if she beat her cancer it was doubtful that she would ever walk again. Just two weeks later,Alex slightly moved her leg at her parents' request to kick. This was the first indication that she would turn out to be a courageous and confident child with big dreams and big accomplishments. By her second birthday,Alex was able to stand up with leg braces .She worked hard to gain strength and to learn how to walk. She appeared to be overcoming the difficulties, until the shocking discovery within the next year that her tumors had started growing again. In the year 2000,the day after her fourth birthday,Alex received a stem cell transplant and informed her mother,"When I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand. " She said she wanted to give the money to doctors to allow them to "help other kids,like they helped me.,,True to her word, she held her first lemonade stand later that year with the help of her older brother and raised an amazing $ 2,000 for "her hospital, People from all over the world,moved by her story,held their own lemonade stands and donated the earnings to Alex and her cause. In August of 2004,Alex passed away at the age of 8,knowing that,with the help of others,she had raised more than $ 1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex's family--including brothers Patrick,Eddie,and Joey--and supporters around the world are committed to continuing her inspiring cause through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation . It can be learned from the text that Alex . Answer: If a liquid disappears then what probably happened to it? Answer: Korean culture is really exciting right now. The Korean Wave is sweeping Asian countries including China. Young people are going crazy about Korean TV dramas, Korean pop songs, taekwondo and the Korean language. The Korean Wave started a few years ago with the TV series "Winter Sonata". This love story is still popular. People, especially girls, like the beautiful story and handsome actors like Bae Yong Jun . In the music world, Korean girls are making themselves heard in China. You can often find big Korean names like Baby Vox, S. E. S and Finkle at the top of the Chinese music charts . The Korean Wave has also made young people want to try the clothes and hairstyles of pop stars, too. Not only that. Now some girls in China are having plastic surgery to change the way they look. People say some beautiful Korean stars have had plastic surgery. These stars don't make plastic surgery look shameful . Are all the faces of beautiful Korean girls not real? Find out for yourself when you next visit South Korea. Who is the famous actor in Korean dramas? Answer: When young people begin to live independently, home-hunting can bring some stress. But they would do well to remember that a new alternative is available--micro-home. Called "tiny houses", these houses have all living necessities in a small package, including kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Generally under 50 square meters, most tiny houses accommodate just one or two people though some claim the space for more. What's lost in size is not lost in design as these homes are often quite unique and modern in design. Besides an attractive appearance, tiny houses can also have unique practical features. Making the best of urban space, the 72- to122-centimeter-wide Keret House in Warsaw, the world's narrowest home, fills in an alley. The Ecocapsule home uses solar power, wind power and rainwater collection to enable its owner to live practically anywhere. A system of rails allows the DALE micro-home to adjust room size and number as well as adding the option of an open or enclosed courtyard. Visually appealing as micro-homes are, there are a few drawbacks to consider before getting cozy on a mini-couch. Moving into a tiny house requires the removing of most non-essentials, regardless of the emotional connection to them. Guests will also mostly be out of the question as the limited space may even cause a solitary individual to experience some cabin fever . And finally, a micro-home is likely a temporary living option for most people since they will probably start families and acquiremore possessions. Though the limitations will scare some, there is usually a benefit. A small size results in a small price tag and small bills, making tiny houses easier to save up for and budget. And though you won't have much stuff around the house, this can provide the comfort of simple living and repairs. Micro-homes are also practically mobile and have eco-friendliness that can't be matched by other homes. They probably aren't for everyone or forever, but when it comes to your next (or first) home, they could be just what you need. Micro-homes are especially fit for _ . Answer:
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. This is an old English saying. Have you heard of it before? It means that we must go to bed early and get up early in the morning. Then we shall be healthy. We shall also be rich (wealthy) and clever (wise). This is true. The body must have enough sleep to be healthy. Children of young age should have ten hours' sleep every night. Children who do not have enough sleep cannot do their work very well. They will not be wise and they may not become wealthy! The body also needs exercise. Walking, running, jumping, swimming and playing games are all exercise. Exercise keeps the body strong. Exercise also helps the blood to move around inside the body. This is very important. Our blood takes food to all parts of our body. The head also needs blood .Exercise helps us to think better! Exercise makes the _ move quickly and smoothly A. body B. blood C. children D. head Answer: B. blood During your stay outside Hong Kong, you may have been exposed to certain infectious diseases without your knowledge. In case you develop any symptom such as fever, chills, skin rash, diarrhea or vomiting within 14 days of your arrival in Hong Kong, you should consult a doctor or attend an accident & emergency department or general outpatient clinic. Please bring along this card. CHIEF PORT HEALTH OFFICE The Port Health Office Their staff is glad to answer your questions about travel health. Please inquire at: --Hong Kong Island 18 F, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Rd. East, Wanchai. Tel: 2961 8840 -- Kowloon Room 905, Government Offices, Canton Road Tel: 2368 3361 Which of the following is NOT true? A. Skin rash is an infectious disease. B. There are two Departments of Health, one in Hong Kong Island and the other in Kowloon. C. You may have some trouble without this card when you go to hospital. D. It is very possible that you get some infectious disease but you don't know it. Answer: B. There are two Departments of Health, one in Hong Kong Island and the other in Kowloon. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the U.K. has about 7.7 million families with dependent children, of which 3.7 million have just one child, compared to 3 million with two and 1.1 million with three children or more. The number of families today with just one dependent child is now 47 percent and will likely rise to more than 50 percent in a decade. As the ONS confirms, "It appears that families are getting smaller." One obvious reason for this could be that women are putting off having children until they have established careers when they are bound to be less fertile. But it could just as well be a matter of choice. Parents must consider the rising cost of living, combined with economic uncertainty and an increasingly difficult job market. And this trend may continue growing as having an only child becomes more normal, which seems to be the mood on the mothers' online forum Mumsnet, where one member announced that she "just wanted to start a positive thread about how fab it is to have an only child". She had received 231 replies, overwhelmingly in the same upbeat spirit. Parents of only children insist there are plenty of benefits. Nicola Kelly, a writer and lecturer who grew up as an only child and is now a married mother of one, says her 15-year-old son seems more grown-up in many ways than his contemporaries. _ In a moving recent account journalist Janice Turner wrote about her own keenness to "squeeze out two sons just 22 months apart" as a reaction to her only-child upbringing. She was placed on a pedestal by her doting parents, whom she punished with a "brattish, wilful" rejection of everything they stood for. Desperate for a close friend she was repeatedly shattered by rejection and refers to her childhood as being "misery". Writer and clinician Dr. Dorothy Rowe, a member of the British Psychological Society, says that we all interpret events in our own individual way and there are some children who no matter what their circumstances feel slighted, while other children see the advantages of their situation. However, the one part of life that is unlikely to get any easier for only children is when they grow up and find themselves looking after their own parents as they become older. From what Dr. Dorothy Rowe said, we know that _ . A. journalist Janice Turner experienced a miserable childhood B. she has a positive attitude towards Janice Turner's reaction C. it's necessary for us to look at the event from our own angle D. some are unable to make an objective assessment of their conditions Answer: D. some are unable to make an objective assessment of their conditions Melbourne, with a population of over 3.5 million, is the second largest city in Australia. It is clean, safe, dynamic and exciting, and well known internationally for its universities and other educational institutions. The city has well-planned tree-lined wide streets and many beautiful parks and gardens. It has a good transport system of roads, buses, trains, and trams. The La Trobe University campus is connected to the Central Business District by trams, express buses, and bus and train connections. Melbourne is a culturally rich city, and is home to large communities of people from all parts of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The city is famous for its restaurants, theatres, music, opera, ballet, art, culture, and shops, and a lively and dynamic nightlife. Melbourne people are fond of sports, and the city hosts many famous international sports events. Near Melbourne there are beautiful coastlines with excellent beaches, national parks, forests, wineries , winter snowfields and summer resorts. The climate is _ and comfortable, with warm summers and cool winters. In summer, maximum daytime temperatures range from 26degC to 36degC, and in winter from 12degC to 18degC. The weather in Melbourne can be variable from day to day. Melbourne was rated the world's best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The best title for the passage might be _ . A. An Ideal Place for Shopping B. A City with the Best Climate C. The World's Best City to Live in D. The World's Most Beautiful City Answer: C. The World's Best City to Live in Modality City has had a severe traffic problem on its streets. As a result, it enacted an ordinance prohibiting all sales to the public of food or other items by persons selling directly from trucks, cars, or other vehicles located on city streets. The ordinance included an inseverable grandfather provision exempting from its prohibition vendors who, for 20 years or more, have continuously sold food or other items from such vehicles located on the streets of Modality City. Northwind Ice Cream, a retail vendor of ice cream products, qualifies for this exemption and is the only food vendor that does. Yuppee Yogurt is a business similar to Northwind, but Yuppee has been selling to the public directly from trucks located on the streets of Modality City only for the past ten years. Yuppee filed suit in an appropriate federal district court to enjoin enforcement of this ordinance on the ground that it denies Yuppee the equal protection of the laws. In this case, the court will probably rule that the ordinance is A. constitutional, because it is narrowly tailored to implement the city's compelling interest in reducing traffic congestion and, therefore, satisfies the strict scrutiny test applicable to such cases. B. constitutional, because its validity is governed by the rational basis test, and the courts consistently defer to economic choices embodied in such legislation if they are even plausibly justifiable. C. unconstitutional, because the nexus between the legitimate purpose of the ordinance and the conduct it prohibits is so tenuous and its provisions are so underinclusive that the ordinance fails to satisfy the substantial relationship test applicable to such cases. D. unconstitutional, because economic benefits or burdens imposed by legislatures on the basis of grandfather provisions have consistently been declared invalid by courts as per se violations of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Answer: B. constitutional, because its validity is governed by the rational basis test, and the courts consistently defer to economic choices embodied in such legislation if they are even plausibly justifiable.
Summer time is a great opportunity for kids to learn how to work and earn a little bit of spending money. If your child needs a summer job, here are a few options to consider: Lemonade/Cookie Stand Benefits Creates a concept of running a business: Your child will be his own boss, set his own price , and run the show. It's a great introduction to running his own business. Limited Start-Up Costs: The things used to make lemonade are cheap, so your child should be able to get back his investment with a handful of sales. What Kids Learn About Money: Your child will learn a very valuable lesson about pricing. The price of his lemonade will decide how much he can sell, if he will recover his investment and the amount of profit. Yard Work Benefits: Repeated Customers: If a homeowner needs help raking this year, he'll probably want help again next year. Your child should be able to maintain a regular set of customers after one season. Safety: Yard work is generally safer than a lawn-mowing job. Without having to operate machines, your child will be much safer. What Kids Learn About Money: Because of the variability in pay, your child will need to learn how to negotiate a fair price with homeowners if they ask. Lifeguard Benefits: Responsibility: Kids learn a lot about responsibility when lifeguarding. They are within rights to tell whether a certain activity is safe and are allowed to take action as they see fit. Exercise: Lifeguards need to be proficient at swimming and must exercise to stay in shape. What Kids Learn About Money: To be a lifeguard, one must be certified. Your child may have to pay for lifeguard training, although some employers provide it on-site. If your kid wants to be a lifeguard, he or she has to do all the following except _ . receiving training for free One night my wife and I were going to dinner at a friend ' s.As we went towards the house, I noticed a car pulling out from the sidewalk.Just ahead, another car was waiting to back into the parking space.But before he could do so a yellow car came up from behind and sneaked into the space. While my wife went ahead into our friend' s house, I stepped into the street. "Hey," I said, "this parking space belongs to that guy." I gestured towards the man ahead, who was looking back angrily.At that moment I was feeling pretty manly. " Mind your own business!" the driver told me. "No," I said."You don' t understand.That fellow was waiting to back into this space." Things quickly heated up, until finally he jumped out of the car.My God, he was extremely large.He grabbed me and shook his rock of a fist at me.I tasted blood.I was terrified. Almost in a panic, I ran to my friend ' s front door.As a former Marine , as a man, I felt ly embarrassed as my wife and friends asked me what had happened.All I could say was that I had had an argument about a parking space.They were sensitive and let it go at that. Perhaps half an hour later, the doorbell rang.For some reason I was sure that the huge man had returned for me.My blood ran cold.My hostess got up to answer it, but I stopped her.I knew I had to face up to my fear. I opened the door.There he stood."I came back to apologize," he said in a low voice."I am ashamed of myself.The Brooklyn Navy Yard where I've worked for ten years is closing.Today I got laid off.I' m not myself.I hope you' ll accept my apology." I remembered that after I closed the door, I stood there for a few minutes alone with tears in my eyes. What kind of person is the author? Warm - hearted and understanding Scientists are placing robotic dogs in the homes of lonely old people to test whether they can improve the quality of life for humans. Alan Beck, an expert in human-animal relationship, and Nancy Edwards, a professor of nursing, are leading the animal-assisted study on the effect of robotic dogs on old people's depression , physical activity, and life satisfaction. In the study, the robot, called AIBO, is placed for six weeks in the houses of some old people who live alone. Before placing AIBO in the home, scientists will collect baseline data for six weeks. These old people will keep a diary to note their feelings and activity before and after AIBO. Then, the scientists will review the data to test if it has produced any changes in the life of its owner. "I talk to him all the time, and he responds to my voice," says a seventy-year-old lady. "When I'm watching TV, he'll stay in my arms until he wants down. He has his own mind." The AIBOs respond to certain orders. The scientists say they have some advantages over live dogs, especially for old people. Often the elderly are disabled and cannot care for an animal by walking it or playing with it. A robotic dog _ exercise and feeding concerns. "At the beginning, it was believed that no one would relate(......) to the robotic dog, because it was metal and not furry." Beck says. "Hopefully, down the road, these robotic pets could become a more-valuable health helper. They will record their masters' blood pressure, oxygen levels or heart rhythms . AIBOs may even one day have games that can help stimulate older people's minds." What is the better point of AIBO than live dogs? It is easier to keep at home. Papa's Straw Hat Papa was a ranger. He worked with horses. He always wore clean clothes with a hat even when he worked. His hat was always the same kind of a cowboy hat- large black hat of heavy wool. He wore his hat full and high. I think he wanted to look taller than he really was. Mama was proud of the way he looked when he wore his hat and his best clothes. But in some way she got the idea that papa would lose his hair if he kept wearing a heavy wool cowboy hat in the hot weather. She began to talk about his hats. "Papa," she said one day, "why don't you get a nice cool straw hat? That heavy wool cowboy hat may cause losing hair!" Papa laughed at her and explained that the horses wouldn't recognize him if he changed the hat. But she didn't believe him. Mama talked and talked about the hat all summer long. At last papa answered, a little angry, "It would not the cowboy hat but a wife's talking about the hat that makes me lose my hair." Mama had a very serious look on her face. She went straight out and later came home with a straw hat. It was a bad year for ranger and we didn't have much money. She thought that if she spent the money for a straw hat, papa would wear it. When papa saw the hat, his face got red. Without a word, he pulled the straw hat down over his head until it hid his eyes and went on to train the horses. He was a good ranger and gentle to his horses. But as papa got close to the horses this time, they jumped high into the air, raising their front feet. All of them ran around in the rounded field and then raced toward the barn. Papa began to shout "Woo boys. Steady boys, steady." But there was nothing equal to. Papa walked back straight to the stove in the kitchen, pushed the straw hat deep down into the fire then turned to mama, in a way that even frightened me. "Now listen to me, mama. Understand this I will never wear a straw hat or any other kind of hat my horses do not like." Then he put on his wool cowboy hat and walked out of the house. I never heard mama talk any more about hats. Perhaps, that is why when papa died many years later, there was a round spot on the top of his head where there was no hair. According to the passage, a ranger is _ . a person training horses for some purpose Several batteries placed into a radio will make sound after first using chemical energy
Every day when Cora Castle, 14, from Indiana, US goes back home, she opens her computer and logs into a website called Fuel Up to Play 60. She puts on what she has eaten and what kind of activities she has played that day. Then the site decides whether Castle has eaten healthily and done enough exercise. All the seventh graders in Castle's school have done the same thing since the year started. It's part of their health class. If the site finds her habits are unhealthy, it will give her advice. If she does something good, the website will give her a star. Her health teacher set up a competition to see which student could get the most stars from the website. Castle has got 30 stars so far. Cameron Bartlett said she liked tracking the food and activities. "This is the first year we've done it," she said. "It's really interesting to see all of the different choices that we have." The seventh grade health class is coming to an end. They won't be in health class, but the students all said that they would go on to take part in the Fuel Up to Play 60. "There's lots of bad food out there that we've all been eating," Bartlett said "This really helps all of us eat healthier food." Castle logs into the health website because _ . It has been known that the octopus has many special skills, such as using hard shells for mobile homes and protection, disabling their suckers, plotting escapes, and even predicting World Cup soccer game outcomes. Can't we say it is a mysterious creature? While all these talents are impressive, they pale compared to its ability to "disappear" from plain sight. Researchers have long known that this is possible because of the presence of the organs under their skin, which expand or contract to produce a series of color1s, patterns and even skin textures in just milliseconds. Scientists had always believed that such a reaction was directed by a signal from the octopus's large, human-like eyes or brain. But a recent report published in the Journal of Experimental Biology by researchers from the University of California at Santa Barbara, indicate that the animal does not have to wait for a signal from its eyes or brain. It can "see" the light with its skin! UCSB doctoral student Desmond and Professor Todd said they have seen reports about octopus skin changing color1s in response to light with no signal from the eye or brain. However, there had been no follow-up to find out why this was the case and the two decided to see what they could uncover. They began by taking skin samples from a couple of California octopuses and exposing them to color1s, ranging from violent to orange and found that their skin is equipped with the same light-sensitive protein as is found in the cells in the retina of the eyes. Thanks to these proteins, the octopus can "see" the light and react without having to wait for a signal from the eyes or brain, thus enabling it to begin the escape process. Another research by University of Maryland researchers discovered that cuttlefish and squid share the same talent. Thanks to these findings researchers now know that their skin color1 can be controlled by both. What is still not clear is how the two come together to manage the whole process. The doctoral student plans to get to the bottom of the mystery. What is the next aim of Desmond on octopuses? Towards evening, Jennifer was walking on the beach with a gentle breeze blowing through her hair. Looking up at the golden red sun ball, she was surprised by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky. The atmosphere relaxed her. This was what she needed. "It's getting late," she thought, "I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am." She wondered how her parents would react when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself to bungalow 163, where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters, she would have been safe in her house. It was really getting dark now. She wished she had her favorite coat on. It might keep her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought dissipated when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen and saw a note written by her father, "Dear Ellen, there's some coffee ready; I went looking." But where was Ellen? On the right side of the hallway was her parents' room. She went in and saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn't slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up, but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up something was different. She wasn't in her mother's room and she wasn't wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas . It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice. "Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared." The author mentions the views of the beach in Para. 1 in order to _ . The iron in iron-rich red soils may not be in a form that can be taken up by tree roots. As a result, leaves and needles may look yellow. Some trees release acids that convert iron in soil to a usable form. This change in soil chemistry is a type of which process? In some parts of the United States, farming is easy. But farming has always been difficult in the northeastern corner of the country, which is called New England. New England has many trees and thin, rocky soil. Anyone who has wanted to start a new farm there has had to work very hard. The first job has been cutting down trees. The next job has been digging the stumps of the trees out of the soil. Then the farmer has had the difficult job of removing stones from his land. This work of removing stones never really ends, because every winter more stones appear. They come up through the thin soil from the rocks below. Farmers have to keep removing stones from the fields. Even today, farms which have been worked on for 200 years keep producing more stones. That is why stone walls are used instead of fences around New England fields. The stone walls are not high; a man can easily climb over them. But they keep the farmer's cows from joining his neighbor's cows. In New England, stone walls are used _ .
Question: Which kind of behavior has a fixed action pattern? A. political B. migration C. food preparation D. shopping Answer: B. migration Question: Animal experts in Croatia say a bear has learned how to trick people to let him in by knocking at the door. They believe the 220- kilogram brown bear probably learned the trick while nudging a door to get it to open. Experts have a guess that the nudging was mistaken by the owners for knocking and that the bear, pleased by the result, repeated the trick. The Loknar family from Gerovo in western Croatia said the bear had knocked at their door three times and they were now refusing to answer the door. ''We jumped out of the window as he came in through the door and went into the kitchen to take some food for the first time." Mum Nevenka Loknar told a reporter from a local newspaper. "I opened the door and saw him standing there and I didn't believe my eyes at first, then I ran for it as he walked in as if _ was the most normal- thing in the world." Bears are a common thing in the woods around here, but no one has ever heard of a bear that knocks at the door. Mum Nevenka Loknar said, "The bear is so intelligent. It's incredible. We've tried to put up lots of obstacles to stop him coming in, like a wire fence but he still gets through. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew how to use wire cutters." It is _ in Gerovo that a bear knocks at the door. A. unusual B. a troubling problem C. common D. an exciting experience Answer: A. unusual Question: I came to the USA because I needed to study English here. I went to an English language school. I was not a beginner, but I was not good at English. At the end of the first term, I could read, write and speak, and I thought I was good at them. However, I was not good at understanding when people spoke to me. My teacher said," Why don't you repeat the classes?" I was not happy. I made progress every month, so I did not want to repeat them. However, it was true -- I was not good at understanding when people spoke to me. My teacher said, "Repeating the classes is a good way to practice listening. And if you repeat them, you will understand more spoken English." In the end, I repeated the classes. In the second term, I studied the same books that I did in the first term. My teacher was right. It was a good idea. Now, after studying English for a year, I can understand more spoken English. And I know that reading, writing and speaking are not enough; listening is also very important. The writer didn't want to repeat the classes at first because _ . A. he had no time to do that B. he learnt the book very well C. there was nobody helping him D. he thought he made progress every month Answer: D. he thought he made progress every month Question: A wood fire can be handy when you ' re camping. You can roast marshmallows or stay warm, for example. Forest fires that rage out of control, however, are a big problem. Wildfires cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage every year. And the amount of destruction has grown over the last 2 decades,especially in the western United States. To understand better why the northern Rocky Mountains region has been hit especially hard by wildfires, scientists from the University of Arizona in Tucson looked at weather, snow, and fire records from 1970 to 2003. Their study showed that, between 1987 and 2003, fires burned an area 6. 5 times larger than the area burned between 1970 and 1986. The fire season also started earlier-, and its average length increased by 78 days. Warmer spring and summer temperatures appear to be part of the explanation for this change. The average temperature in the study's more recent period was 0.871 higher than it was in the earlier period. And this trend is likely to continue. Experts predict that average summer temperatures may rise between 23/4 and 53/4 by the year 2050 in western North America. Hie timing of snowmelt appears to be another cause of the fire boom. When snow melts early in the season,forests become drier through the summer and catch fire and burn more easily. Western snow packs now typically melt a week to a month earlier than they did 50 years ago, according to recent studies. Some people have blamed the growing fire risk on policies that allow bush and branches to build up on forest floors. But clearing bush by itself won' t help much if changes in climate are largely responsible for increasingly severe forest fires. Scientists fix>m the University of Arizona found out the following EXCEPT _ A. western snow packs melt earlier than they did 50 years ago B. fires burned larger area between 1987.and 2003 than between 1970 and 1986 C. the fire season between 1987 and 2003 was longer than that between 1970 and 1986 D. the average summer temperature will be I9Cand 53/4 higher by2050 than it is now Answer: D. the average summer temperature will be I9Cand 53/4 higher by2050 than it is now Question: These days, when the world seems to be hard to control, walking can make you feel peaceful. It gives you a chance to slow down, to relax and to appreciate yourself and your life in general. It helps you slow down enough to breathe deeply, to calm your thoughts, and to research the natural world filled with wonders. And yes, to love yourself more. Try to spend one day for a long travel on foot--far from the requirements of work and family. First, choose a date and mark it as your "relaxing day". Next, choose a place that you want to visit on foot. If you enjoy being out in nature, head to a wide and open place. Try to choose a place that's no more than 15 minutes from your home. You want to spend your time walking, not driving. Walk at an easy speed so you can walk longer and farther. If you normally walk two miles a day, go for four to six miles. Wear comfortable clothes. If it's warm, wear a hat to protect your face. And don't forget your sunglasses-- not only to protect your eyes but also to give you a sense of privacy while you walk. Before you go out, get up early so you can spend a few minutes relaxing. Relaxing is something few people spend in their spare time, but it leaves you feeling much lighter and less annoyed. Read something relaxing before you leave home, and it'll put you in a different condition of mind. And, of course, eat a healthy breakfast and drink plenty of water. Then pick up your backpack and head out. And enjoy yourself. Walking can help you EXCEPT _ . A. making you calm B. feeling more excited C. thinking things calmly D. breathing deeply Answer: B. feeling more excited
Question: Americans who volunteer for the Peace Corps get a chance to help improve lives in developing countries. They also get a chance to learn more about the world, and about themselves. This week this program is celebrating its 50th anniversary . President John Kennedy set up the Peace Corps soon after he took office in 1961. It was the time of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union . The new program gave Americans a chance to answer the call to service that the president made in his inaugural speech. "Ask not what your country can do for you," he said. "Ask what you can do for your country." Kennedy told Peace Corps volunteers that America's image in the countries where they were going would depend largely on them. On August 30th, 1961, the first group of 51 Peace Corps volunteers arrived in Accra, Ghana, to serve as teachers. They had agreed to work for almost no pay. They would spend two years in Ghana helping its people and learning the reality of life in a developing country. Most of the volunteers had just completed college. About half of them taught English or health care. In the 50 years since then, more than 200,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers. They have worked in 139 countries. The Peace Corps is a government agency that was created to promote world peace and friendship. There are three goals: First, to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women. Second, to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the people served. And, third, to help promote a better understanding of other people on the part of Americans. Today, the Peace Corps has more than 8,000 volunteers and trainees in 77 countries. They work in agriculture, economic development, education, the environment and health care. Some work in programs related to youth development. Fifty percent of current Peace Corps volunteers are women. The average age of a volunteer is 28. But the ages of Peace Corps volunteers range from 18 to 86. Some Americans join the Peace Corps after they retire . Today seven percent of volunteers are over the age of 50. And 19 percent are members of minority groups. Volunteers for the Peace Corps can _ . A. have an opportunity to help all the people in developing countries B. travel to many foreign countries to learn more about the world C. contribute to lives in developing countries and develop themselves D. improve their abilities by learning in some developed countries Answer: C. contribute to lives in developing countries and develop themselves Question: Every day, young people across the globe are doing their part to keep the Earth healthy and green. These are just a few kid heroes for the planet. Manatee Minder When she was in second grade, Stephanie Cohen read about a baby manatee hit by a boat off the coast of Florida. Marine biologists saved the manatee. But caring for the sea creature was costly. Stephanie took up a collection and raised $ 27 in one day. Now 18, Stephanie still raises money to help these " gentle giants". She sells manatee decorations, candles and cards on her website kmad. Org. Color Us Green! At Clarendon Elementary School, in Secaucus, New Jersey, the students know what to do with old, used and broken crayons .Recycle them ! They collect the crayons and send them to Crazy Crayons, where they are made into different shapes and sizes. In the past eight years, new Jersey students have recycled nearly nine tons of crayons. Goodbye, Paper Bags! When Adrienne Boukis, 15, was in sixth grade, in Walnut Creek, California, she noticed that many of her classmates carried paper lunch bags. To help kids cut down on waste, she invented a reusable lunch bag, which is partially made from recycled plastic bottles. She sells the bags at greengearbag. Com and some of the _ go to charity that is in need of money. He' s Skiiing to Save the Earth Parker Liautaud, 15, wanted to raise awareness about the effects of climate change on the polar regions. He set out to become one of the youngest people ever to ski to the North Pole. Parker feels he met his goal to inspire others. "All young people have the power to make a change."he said in an interview. According to the passage, kmad.org _ . A. provides some goods sold online B. was designed by Adrienne Boukis C. focuses on the protection of sea creatures D. inspires kids to raise money for the manatee Answer: A. provides some goods sold online Question: BEIJING--Family planning officers will handle the illegal birth case of film director Zhang Yimou by following legal procedures, a government spokesman said on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. When asked to comment on Zhang's case at a press conference, Yao Hongwen, spokesman for the National Health and Family Planning Commission(NHFPC), said "Every citizen is equal before the law and nobody is allowed to have privileges to give birth to more children than allowed." Yao's comment came after media stories claimed that Zhang had remarried and fathered a total of seven children: one with his former wife, three with his present wife, Chen Ting, and another three from two lovers. "The NHFPC's attitude towards citizens' birth violations is consistent and clear...Every Chinese citizen should obey and safeguard the seriousness of laws and regulations." NHFPC spokesman Yao Hongwen said. China's family planning policy, introduced in the late 1970s to slow down the country's growing population, limits most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two. The policy was recently relaxed, allowing couples to have two children if one of them is an only child. Those who break the policy face severe fines. The amount of the fine is generally several times the yearly annual income of the two spouses . Some media calculations put the fine that Zhang may face at as much as 160 million yuan(over $26 million). Zhang's birth case has caused criticism online about famous people who have more children than the policy allows. In an open letter on December 1, Zhang admitted that the couple has two sons and daughter and they are willing to accept investigation and punishment according to China's laws and regulations. He apologized to the public. However, the letter denied that Zhang had lovers and was father to as many as seven children from various mothers. Zhang, one of the "fifth generation" of Chinese filmmakers, made his first directorial work in 1987 with "Red Sorghum" and has won a number of award worldwide. He was chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games. The purpose of the news report is to _ A. claim that Zhang Yimou remarried and fathered a total of seven children B. inform us that Zhang's illegal birth case will be dealt with by the government C. convince us that Zhang is a famous director and his case will be pardoned D. confirm that Zhang's illegal birth case has resulted in lots of criticism online Answer: B. inform us that Zhang's illegal birth case will be dealt with by the government Question: Many people rely on a cup of coffee or two to wake them up in the morning or pick them up during the working day, but now a chemist has come up with a speedy alternative to crafting a cup of coffee. U.S. biochemist Ben Yu has created 'Sprayable Energy,' which claims to be the world's first caffeine - based topical energy spray. He said tired workers can spray a 'shot' of caffeine onto their skin without experiencing a strong buzz, loading up on unnecessary calories or being stuck with a nasty aftertaste like they might get from drinking energy drinks or coffee. The patent-pending caffeine spray is an odourless liquid that is absorbed through the skin and distributed through the body over a number of hours to deliver a caffeine hit that apparently lasts longer than guzzling a cup of coffee. Each small aluminum bottle of Sprayable Energy contains around 160 sprays - the equivalent amount of caffeine to 40 cups of coffee and the creators say it is a much cheaper way of getting a caffeine fix than popping to a cafe. The only active ingredient in the spray is caffeine, which can naturally enter the human body through the skin by passing through cell membranes as it is very similar to nicotine in structure. Each spritz of Sprayable Energy contains around a quarter of the amount of caffeine found in a cup of coffee, but apparently has the same effect as a full cup. The website said: 'The reason for this is our product not being ingested, isn't almost entirely metabolised by the liver before entering your system and becoming available to your body.''Thus, a smaller amount of caffeine can have just the same effect as a very large amount of caffeine ingested through an energy drink or cup of coffee. Sprayable Energy`s website recommends that users apply the spray in places where they normally spritz perfume, such as the neck or wrists, but warns users not to exceed 20 sprays a day. It claims that after spraying the product on the skin, users will feel 'awake and focused without being over-stimulated', which is common with coffee and energy drinks. We can conclude from the passage that _ A. Sprayable Energy can not be permitted to be used by people now. B. Sprayable Energy has not already gone into mass production C. Each spritz of Sprayable Energy has the same effect as a full cup of coffee D. Sprayable Energy is well received by flagging workers. Answer: B. Sprayable Energy has not already gone into mass production Question: The Future of Technology William, a businessman, arrives in a foreign airport. He doesn't show his passport. Instead, a machine in the wall reads the computer chip in his arm. This contains information about him: his name, age, and I.D number. He exits the airport, and a car door opens when it "sees" him. The car takes him to his hotel. His room "knows" he has entered the building and it "reads" his body. He is cold, so the room becomes warmer. William then watches a business presentation on a video wall. When he takes a bath, the presentation "follows him and continues on the bathroom wall. Finally, the room plays music to help him sleep. It turns off the music when it "sees" him sleeping. William doesn't exist, and none of this is real. But it might be soon. "In five to ten years, computing and communications are going to be free and everywhere, in your walls, in your car, on your body,' says Victor Zue, leader of Project Oxygen. Project Oxygen has one big idea: to create better relationships between machines and people. The dream is that computer will learn to understand what people want. So, what changes will there be at work? Firstly, the building will know where everyone is, all the time. You want to talk to someone? Type the person's name on the nearest computer. It will show you a map of the building and exactly where this person is. You then call this person, who picks up the nearest telephone, also shown on the computer. If he or she is busy with a client or in a meeting, the computer will tell you. Is all this really possible? Visit the Siebel Center, Illinois and see for yourself: computers in the doors and walls, cameras everywhere, the technology of the future, but here today. In the Siebel Center, Illinois, _ . A. computers are everywhere B. the technology of the future is there today C. there are cameras in the doors and walls D. the future technology will be there in 5-10 years Answer: B. the technology of the future is there today
Leaving coconut oil out on a counter, as the day grows hotter, what happens to the oil? A. changes from solid to wet B. it hardens up a lot C. it begins to rot D. it needs to be refrigerated Answer: A Two cats in different rooms may share information by A. vocalizing B. sleeping C. thinking D. waiting Answer: A I try not to be biased but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His social worker assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee. He was short, a little fat, with the smooth facial features and thick-togued speech of Down's Syndrome . I thought most of my customers would be uncomfortable around Stevie, so I closely watched him for the first few weeks. I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my regular trucker customers had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot. After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled. Money was tight, and _ . That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work. He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a heart surgery. His social worker said that people with Downs Syndrome often had heart problems at an early age and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months. A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery, and doing fine. Frannie, my head waitress, did a little dance when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at her and asked, "Okay, Frannie, what was that all about?" "We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay." "I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?" Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed: "Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK," she said. "But I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is." Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables. After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand. "What's up?" I asked. "I cleared off that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting after they left, and I found this. This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup." She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie". That was three months ago. Today is New Year's day , the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work. His placement worker said he had been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, I arranged to have his mother bring him to work, met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back. I took him and his mother by their arms. "To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me." I led them toward a large corner booth. I could feel and hear truck customers and the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups and dinner plates, all sitting slightly on dozens of folded paper napkins. "First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said. Stevie looked at me, and then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed on it. I turned to his mother. "There's more than $10,000 in cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. Happy Thanksgiving!" While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table. What made the author not fully satisfied with Stevie's work? A. That he made customers uncomfortable. B. That he couldn't pay attention to his duties. C. That he often spilled cups of coffee. D. That he usually cleaned the table too early. Answer: D Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain . People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. It is considered one of the recreational activities. Many people say they go hiking because they love to walk outdoor, without necessarily having a destination ahead of them. This makes hiking much more different than walking down the street to the store or to some other places that we need to go. People who like hiking say, "We enjoy ourselves along the way whether we arrive somewhere important or not." Some people add another reason for hiking to the basic one of loving to be outdoors. These folks see hiking as not only mentally healthy for clearing the mind but also physically healthy as great exercise for the body. Unlike some other exercise programs, hiking can be an activity for almost anyone in reasonably good health. Hiking on a smooth, level path is even good exercise. Trudging over rougher terrain can be a workout and a time of enjoyment at the same time. Some people who hike on a regular basis give little thought to the exercise part of the activity. These people are more likely to go hiking because they are exploring nature. They may be interested in the trees or the rocks. Perhaps they are interested in looking at the birds or the various animals that lodge in the forest or the park. Certainly park land is ideal for hiking. Many of these sites have marked for hiking. This leads many to take part in hiking specifically for the exercise and enjoyment of being outdoors, when they may not do this otherwise. Some people look at hiking as having two major benefits. When asked why they go hiking in their spare time many people will combine these reasons: It helps me relax; it doesn't take a great investment of money for equipment. For them, a good pair of shoes and some comfortable clothes can help them get away from work or other stressful situations that may arise in life. In many cases, these hikers can enjoy their favorite pastime all year long. They may be able to take those outdoor walks in almost any weather. It's safe to say that hiking can heal and please the human being in many ways. What is the text mainly about? A. The popularity of hiking in the world today. B. The reasons why people go hiking. C. Hiking's benefits for health. D. Making your hiking plan before going outdoors. Answer: B Once upon a time, there was a farmer in central China. He didn't have money, so instead of a tractor , he used an old horse to plow his field . One afternoon, while working in the field, the horse fell down, dead. Everyone in the village said, "Oh, what a horrible thing!" The farmer said simply, "We'll see." He was so peaceful and so calm that everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new horse as a gift. Everyone's reaction now was, "What a lucky man!" And the farmer said, "We'll see." A couple of days later, the new horse jumped over a fence and ran away. Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, "What a poor fellow!" The farmer smiled and said, "We'll see." Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone said, "What a fortunate man!" The farmer said, "We'll see." Later in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding the horse and fell and broke his leg. Everyone in the village said, "What a poor boy!" The farmer said, "We'll see." Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits .When they saw the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit him. Everyone said, "What a fortunate young man!" The farmer smiled again and said, "We'll see." There's no use in overreacting to the events and circumstances of our everyday lives. When our hearts are in the right place, all events and circumstances are gifts that we can learn valuable lessons from. Which of the following is True according to the passage? A. The farmer didn't use a tractor to plow his field. B. The farmer was very sad because his own horse was dead. C. The new horse ran away and never came back. D. Because the army came into the village to draft new recruits, the son had his leg broken. Answer: A
As millions of playthings are recalled, doctors are reminded that the risks of lead exposure continue for young patients. Lead is such a well-known health - perhaps even contributing to the fall of the Roman Empire- that it came as a shock to discover that toys played by children could contain lead. Doctors are now dealing with the aftershocks. Just how dangerous is this exposure? That's the question physicians are being asked by parents who find a lead-polluted Elmo, of Dora. Millions of others toys, lunch boxes and pieces of jewelry manufactured in China have been recalled because they contain lead either in the paint that coats them or as a component of the plastic used to make the item more flexible. The lead content in some of the toys recalled this summer was 180 times the amount allowed by law. Some pieces of jewelry were almost 100% lead. Experts advise that the items do cause a risk and that doctors should urge parents to check the comprehensive lists of recalled products on the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site and return any appearing on those lists to the manufacturers. If exposure is suspected, a blood test is in order . Since there is no safe level of this universal element, the risk face by children for lead poisoning and its accompanying threat of learning disabilities and behavior problems is considerable. Doctors who have toys in their waiting rooms also are advised to see if any of them have been recalled and to check for chipped, flaking paint-even on those that haven't yet been recalled--since new announcements of toy risk continue. From the report we can infer that _ . Answer: some toy and jewelry manufacturers will suffer heavy losses Watercolor is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men who discovered they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the walls of caves by mixing the natural colors found in the earth with water. Fresco , one of the greatest of all art forms, is done with watercolor. It is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster . Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelo's heroic ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, very few know that they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world. The invention of oil painting by the Flemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go down-hill, and for the next several centuries watercolor was used mainly for doing sketches or as a tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolor as a serious art form. The English have a widely-known love for the outdoors and also small, private pictures. The softness of watercolor had a remarkably strong attraction for them. The popularity of watercolor continued to grow until in the twentieth century. The United States passed England as the center for watercolor, producing such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth. The first watercolor artists were _ . Answer: early cave men Almost everyone likes dogs, and almost everyone likes to read about dogs. I have friend. He has a big police dog with the name Jack. Police dogs are very clever. Every Sunday afternoon my friend takes jack for along walk in the park. Jack likes these long walks very much. One Sunday afternoon a young man came to visit my friend. He stayed a long time. He talked and talked. Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for walk. But the visitor still stayed. Jack became much worried. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of the visitor and looked at him. But the visitor paid no attention to Jack. He went on talking. At last Jack got angry. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down again in front of the visitor, but this time he took the visitor's cap in his mouth. The visitor went on talking and _ . Answer: he paid no attention to Jack The gemologist didn't want to teach the young man because he thought the young man have no patience . The young man asked for a chance. Finally the expert had to agree. The next morning, the gemologist put a jade stone in the young man's hand and told him, "Hold it!" The expert then went about his work: cutting, weighing, and making. The big boy felt a bit strange , but he said nothing. He just sat quietly and waited. The following morning the expert again placed the jade stone in the young man's hand and told him to hold it. On the third, fourth, and fifth day the young man did the same job. A month went by, and the young man felt more and more boring because of holding the same stone. One morning, the gemologist came and asked him to hold out his hand, he couldn't go on any longer. But just as the gemologist put the stone in his hand, he said loudly,"This is not the same jade stone!" "You have begun to learn," said the gemologist with a smile. What does the story want to tell us? Answer: Keep on, and you can get you what you want. While there has been public debate about whether running is good for your health for a long time, experts agree that running has more benefits than the costs. Some people are concerned that the pressure on your knees and ankles can be _ . While this can be true, there are many things that you can do to reduce your risk of injury. You should always go to a doctor for advice before you begin any type of exercise program. Then, a good pair of running shoes can be helpful as your feet hit the ground. They will help protect your ankles by providing stability to your feet. So it is good idea to visit a specialty running shoe store. The staff there can suggest shoes which are ideal for your running style. In order to learn the proper form, you may get some advice from a friend who has been running for some time, or even join a running club. They can provide good tips as well as some support and encouragement for you. Lastly, it is important to start out slowly. When it comes to getting in shape and losing weight , short bursts of speed followed by periods of slower movement would be proper. Aim for around 30 minutes of exercise a few days a week. As you get better, you can increase your speed. Always allow your body to rest in between heavy exercise as your muscles need time to bring energy back. Follow these instructions and your running experience will be a great one! In the expert's opinion, _ . Answer: running has more advantages than disadvantages for you.
Nanjing and Hangzhou summer camps offered We are looking for hard-working and open-minded English teachers to join the Nanjing (Jiangsu Province) and Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province) summer camps! Both of the summer camps will run from the beginning of July to the end of August. You will be expected to teach spoken English to Chinese students of different ages. We encourage you to bring your own culture to the classes to make things more interesting. The information of the Nanjing camp: * Working hours: 40 hours per week, 5 working days per week. * Salary: about 7,000 RMB per month. * Accommodation : free (single room). The information of the Hangzhou camp: * Working hours: 5 hours per day (= 50 min. / class x 6 classes), one day rest per week. * Salary: 20,160 RMB in total (420 RMB per day = 70 RMB / class x 6 classes). * Accommodation: free (shared room). The requirements of the summer camps: * Native English speakers (US, England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand). * A university degree. * Teaching experience. Please send us your resume , copies of certificates and passport if you are interested in the camps. E-mail: teacher1324@sina.com.cn For more information you can visit our website at http://www.Englishsummercamps.com.cn Look forward to hearing from you soon! Compared with the Nanjing camp, the Hangzhou camp _ . Answer: Below is a selection from a popular science book. If blood is red, why are veins blue? Actually, veins are not blue at all. They are more of a clear, yellowish colour. Although blood looks red when it's outside the body, when it's sitting in a vein near the surface of the skin, it's more of a dark reddish purple colour. At the right depth, these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin, making them look blue by comparison. Which works harder, your heart or your brain? This question depends on whether you're busy thinking or busy exercising. Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise, and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker. But, in the long run, your brain probably tips it, because even when you're sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart, and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it. Do old people shrink as they age? Yes and no. Many people do get shorter as they age. But, when they do, it isn't because they're shrinking all over. They simply lose height as their spine becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effects of gravity . Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older. Men lose an average of 3-4 cm in height as they age, while women may lose 5 cm or more. If you live to be 200 years old, would you keep shrinking till you were, like 60 cm tall, like a little boy again?No, because old people don't really shrink!It is not that they are growing backwards--their legs, arms and backbones getting shorter. When they do get shorter, it's because the spine has shortened a little. Or, more often, become more bent and curved. Why does spinning make you dizzy ? Because your brain gets confused between what you're seeing and what you're feeling. The brain senses that you're spinning using special gravity and motion sensing organs in your inner ear, which work together with your eyes to keep your vision and balance stable. But when you suddenly stop spinning , the system goes out of control, and your brain thinks you're moving while you're not! Where do feelings and emotions come from? Mostly from an ancient part of the brain called the limbic system. All mammals have this brain area--from mice to dogs, cats, and humans. So all mammals feel basic emotions like fear, pain and pleasure. But since human feelings also involve other newer bits of the brain, we feel more complex emotions than any other animal on the planet. Why do some old people look a little shrunken as they age? Answer: The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means . Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it. Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in a place, men moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world. Air pollution is still the most serious. It's bad to all living things in the world, but it is not only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills fish and pollutes drinking water. Noise pollution makes us become angry more easily. Many countries are making rules to fight against pollution. They stop the people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from blowing dirty smoke into the air. The pollution of SO2 is now the most dangerous problem of air pollution. It is mostly caused by heavy traffic. It is certain that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution. The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must try to control the growth of population at the same time. What is the most dangerous problem of air pollution? Answer: If there is something that appears most frequently on Chinese dining tables, it is doufu--beancurd.Beancurd looks like soft cakes and it's made from dried soybeans.Beancurd used to be considered a favourite of the poor because of its low cost.Beans have high yields every year with their short growing period and suitability for various soil both dry and wet. Historical records show beancurd was invented by Liu An, Prince of Huainan and uncle of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty(206BC--220AD).He had a dream of finding the pill for longevity .He traveled all over the country and found soybeans, which looked much the same as gold in terms of colour.He collected soybeans, put them in the water and crushed them into pulp .It got solidified and became known as doufu.Although it's not able to keep longevity, it's really good for one's health with high protein and low fat. With a long history, beancurd is rooted deep in Chinese culture.People eat more meat and fish than beancurd.But they are encouraged to have beancurd every once in a while for it's really good for health.Most Chinese people still keep beancurd as one of their favourite dishes. What appears more often on the dining table in poor areas? Answer: Long ago there was a man with the name Smith. He made a living by making caps. One day he went to sell his caps. He went through a forest. There were many monkeys in it. It was very hot. The man is very tired and wanted to have a rest. He came up to a large tree, put his caps on the ground, took one of them and put it on his head. Then he lay down and soon fell asleep. "Where are my caps?" Smith cried when he woke up.He looked up and saw many monkeys in the tree and each monkey had a cap on its head. "Give me back my caps!" the man shouted at the monkeys.But the monkeys didn't understand him.They only laughed.The man got angry,took off his own cap,threw it on the ground and cried,"If you want all my caps,you may take this one,too!" And what do you think happened?The little animals did the same. Each monkey took off its cap and threw it on the ground. The man was very glad. He quickly collected all his caps and went on his way. He _ and lay down and fell asleep soon. Answer:
My mom takes pride in the fact that I was talking in three and four word sentences before I was ten months old. Some say it's a gift while others simply think I talk too much. As my thirties came to a close, I found myself reflecting on my life. I'm very happy and have no significant regrets. However, when I looked back on those times of difficulty, I saw a clear common denominator ; I didn't seem to know when to stop talking. Whether it was hurting someone's feelings, or having carelessly told a secret, the incident could have been avoided had I closed my mouth sooner. So I decided to practice the power of quiet. To take this step, I needed to understand how people could sit comfortably in a group and not talk. Why does my husband feel completely content to say nothing in a conversation? He's highly intelligent and has wonderful opinions but he'll sit quietly and just listen. Even when he's asked a pointed question, he'll answer with few words while still communicating effectively. What a talent! Can you imagine being happy just listening? In surveying those I know who talk less than I do, I got two answers--they either didn't feel confident enough to speak up, or they just didn't feel the need to participate in the conversation. Of course there were other reasons for not talking, but these were the two most popular answers. The first one didn't work for me. I'm just fine letting people know what I think about them, and hopefully it will make the conversation much more interesting. The second one didn't work either. I do feel the need to participate. I feel it physically like an electrical pulse through my body; sometimes it's so strong that it causes me to behave badly in the form of interrupting or speaking in an unusually loud voice. _ An interesting thing happened on this journey to the power of quiet. During my weekly yoga class, it came to me like an answer so clear that the words rang in my head like soft, heavenly bells. I talked too much so people would know I cared about them. It was my way of taking care of those I love. I decided before my fortieth birthday, that from that day forward, those around me would know I loved them, and cared what they thought and felt, but I was going to practice the power of quiet. As my forty-second birthday approaches, I can say that deciding to talk less has been more about focusing on quality rather than quantity. I've found that listening more shows those who I care about that I really do care how they feel. Now when I break in, it means more to them. Oh, sure, I still have my short periods of talking too much, but for the most part this has been one resolution that I can call a success. By "I had to look further", the writer means she had to _ . A. look into the future in order to succeed in practicing the power of quiet B. try harder to prevent herself from talking too much C. survey people in other areas who talk little D. find out other reasons why she should talk less Answer: D. find out other reasons why she should talk less Some people think that they will get ill if they use their brains too much. It is not true. Through many researches, scientists show us that the more you use your brains, the better they will be, and the wiser you will become. Of course, if you want to keep your mind clear and be energetic , you must take a proper rest and study properly. To the teenagers, using their brains in the morning is good for their health. There are many ways to rest. One is a peaceful rest. Sleep is a peaceful rest. Another is an active rest. For example, take a walk outdoors, do morning exercises every day. To change the way of the brains'activities is also a good way to rest. In everyday life, to eat some eggs, meat, fresh vegetable and fruit is also good for the brains. Wish you a wise man and a happy life. Which of the following statements is false? A. Sleep is a kind of good rest. B. Doing morning exercises is a peaceful rest. C. Going out for a rest is an active rest. D. Different activities are a good rest. Answer: B. Doing morning exercises is a peaceful rest. While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me. Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family. First he kissed his three children one by one and said, "It's nice to see you. I missed you so much!" Then he hugged his wife, "I've saved the best for last!" giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other's eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds , but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn't possibly be. Full of admiration, I asked, "Wow! How long have you two been married?" "Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those." He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife's face. "Well, then, how long have you been away?" I asked. "Two whole days!" "Two days?" I was astonished. By the intensity of the greeting, I had assumed he'd been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew _ so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, "I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!" The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. "Don't hope, friend...decide!" Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, "God bless!" With that, he and his family turned and walked away together. I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, "What are you looking at?" Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, "My future!" From the passage, we can infer that _ . A. the experience may be easily forgotten by the author B. the author will live a passionate life from now on C. the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return D. Americans prefer to save the best for last Answer: B. the author will live a passionate life from now on Mike Maietta was eating lunch when he got a text message from his mom. "Notre Dame," it said. " _ !" Mike, a senior at a Californian high school, shouted with joy. The big envelope meant that the excellent university in Indiana had offered him a place in its Class of 2013. But the $51,300 annual fee is a big trouble. So Mike and his parents are considering offers from several other colleges and are figuring out the costs of tuition, housing and holiday trips home. This year, money is the driving factor for a growing number of high school seniors, who have to decide what colleges to attend this fall. Less jobs and house prices have changed family spending. "We're excited that Mike got into eight great schools," said Mike's father, an engineer at Microsoft. "But if you consider going to school out of state, you've got to think about all of the other costs: moving, flying back and forth for the holidays. You're looking at about $3,000 a year, just for travel." As families weigh their choices, some are going back to financial aid offices hoping help packages can be increased. Rachel Brown was happy to get a thick envelope from New York University (NYU). Although she has always wanted to live in Manhattan, she is seriously considering the University of California San Diego (UCSD), because of the high cost in New York. "The tuition for NYU is twice as much as UCSD," said Rachel, 17. "My mom doesn't want me to have a big debt when I graduate, and I don't want that either. I'd have to take out a loan of $15,000. I'll check and see if there's any way that NYU can offer me any financial aid." More than 7.6 million American students have filled out the Free Application for Students Aid, 19.9 percent increase over last year. This month the Federal Department of Education urged college financial aid officers to give more help to certain families. A record 30,428 students applied for 2,300 places at Stanford, partly because the university increased financial aid for families earning below $10,000. The passage mainly focuses on _ A. the calculation of different costs including tuition B. the extremely hard financial situation in America C. the excitement of students' being able to enter ideal colleges D. the financial crisis of families over college entrance Answer: D. the financial crisis of families over college entrance Parents are often amazed at how fast their child grows and develops. New research has determined that the ability to quantify may develop much sooner than most parents realize. Kristy vanMarle, professor of the University of Missouri, has determined that contrary to what previous studies have shown, infants are able to quantify substances --like sand or water--as early as 10 months. As long as the difference between the two substances is large enough, infants will choose the larger amount, especially when it comes to food. With the assistance of her team researchers, vanMarle tested the quantifying skills of babies by presenting them with two cups: one containing a small amount of food, and one containing a larger amount. Consistently, the babies chose the larger amount. "Several studies throughout the last 15 years have shown that infants are very good at telling how many objects they see; however, infants don't seem to count things like water or sand," vanMarle said. "What we're saying is that they can quantify substances; The infants can see how much food goes into each cup and compare that in their memories. They decide which amount is larger, and they almost always select the larger one." This information further refutes the long-held idea that babies "know nothing of the world," vanMarle said. "Since psychologists have begun studying infants with sensitive measures, we've discovered a lot of early abilities. I think for parents, it should be exciting to know that there's somebody there that has some fundamental and basic knowledge of the world, and that knowledge is guiding their development," vanMarle said. In the future, vanMarle says this kind of study could be linked to a child's progress in math-related skills, although programs marketed to increase those abilities, such as "Baby Einstein," still have mixed reviews when it comes to academic study. The quantifying ability refers to the ability to _ . A. choose between different substances B. get much knowledge of the world C. describe the quantity of something D. obtain math-related skills Answer: C. describe the quantity of something
Eating different colored foods can keep you healthy, as well as change your mood and behavior. Here is a list of colors, which can change your life. Blue/Purple Blue is considered to be peaceful and calming and it has the same effect on our health. The blue / purple color in food is due primarily to their anthocyanins which are antioxidants that are particularly heart healthy and may help support healthy blood pressure. Out of all the blue and purple foods available, blueberries are considered to have the highest antioxidant level. An analysis of the latest data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study found that people who eat purple and blue fruits and vegetables are at a reduced risk for high blood pressure and are less likely to be overweight. A food and health expert says that blue and purple color foods can prevent blood mass formation, and they also lower the risk of cancer. Foods that contain blue and purple colors are: reddish eggplant (especially the skin), blueberries, blackberries, purple grapes, etc. Green We all know that we should eat green as green symbolizes nature. The green foods are rich in isothiocyanates, which help resist cancer. Dr. Ashok Agarwal, a food and nutrition specialist, explains, "They are excellent sources of folic acid, vitamin K, as well as carotene . Diets high in those above are associated with lowered blood pressure." Foods that contain the green color are: broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, etc. Red Lycopene in reddish fruits and vegetables is a powerful antioxidant that has been associated with a reduced risk of some cancers, and also provides protection against heart attacks. Dr. Smiths says, "Cooked tomato sauces are associated with greater health benefits as compared with the uncooked version as the heating process allows lycopene to be more easily absorbed by the body. Obtaining the most benefit from food depends on proper selection, storage and cooking of the produce." Foods that contain red color are: Tomatoes and tomato products, watermelon, guava, red onions, red chili, red apples, red grapes, cherries, etc. Orange The orange foods are also rich in carotene, which are particularly good antioxidants. These foods are commonly considered eyesight foods because they contain vitamin A. "Orange fruits and vegetables also play a part in preventing cancer, particularly of the lungs and stomach. Foods that contain the color orange are: Carrots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, etc. The green and orange foods are both rich in _ . A 15-year-old boy planned to put a ball covered with petrol into his mouth and set it on fire. He would film the dangerous action and put it on YouTube.And, lie hoped to become famous on the Internet. But things didn't go the way he imagined.His clothing caught fire, and he was rushed to the hospital with serious bums on his body. YouTube hosts millions of videos of people attempting dangerous actions.Many of them are by kids and young adults.Some experts say that by hosting these videos, YouTube encourages young viewers to take deadly risks.Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that more than 180,000 Americans die from accidental injuries each year.That's one person every three minutes.More than 14,000 of those killed are kids under the age of 19.Is YouTube to blame? People have always found it interesting to watch others try risky things..Audiences love these kinds of things.Some of the earliest Greek comedies had characters followed by wild animals and knocking into walls.Now, in the age of the Internet, anyone with a camera and a YouTube account can create this kind of 'fun".Many viewers, especially teenagers, are influenced by what they see and want to try it themselves."YouTube has taken the playing in the neighborhood to a worldwide level," says Clair Mellenthin, a researcher from the Centers. Supporters of YouTnbe argue that it isn't YouTube's responsibility to examine its content."Parents should be the ones to make sure that kids are behaving safely," they say.In fact, YouTube has a rule on content.For example, dangerous activities that have a risk of serious physical harm or death are not allowed.Staff of YouTube, carefully watch the website 24 hours a day, looking for videos that are against their rules.But is this enough? The passage mainly discusses _ . People often ask me how, as a man, I became so devoted to improving the quality of women's lives. It wasn't until age forty that I realized what had started me down my career path. One morning more than thirty-seven years ago, I was awakened by the passing school bus. I was thirteen years old, living at home with my two younger brothers and our mother, Doris Joy Heavin. She had just passed her fortieth birthday. She was a mother of five children and had suffered emotional and physical problems most of her life. Her doctor had tried various treatments on her with little benefit. As I awoke to the sound of the passing school bus, my brother Paul came in and told me that I'd better come quickly because mother was sick. As I knelt beside her bed, I could feel the absence of warmth. I put my arms around her, first to feel for a sign of life, and then as a final hug. I took my younger brothers, aged eight and nine, in my arms and gently told them that our mother was in heaven. Her death was unnecessary. The high blood pressure causing the blood clot that took her life was unnecessary. Rather than _ , she could have dealt with the cause of her high blood pressure: we now know that exercise and proper nutrition will almost always reduce the causes of high blood pressure and most other chronic diseases. Many years later, while teaching a fitness and weight loss class to a group of about eighty women, I realized I was subconsciously searching the crowd for the face of my mother. From the passage we learn that _ . "My dream has come true.I have always wanted to be a Grand Slam champion." These are the words of the Chinese tennis player Li Na after she became the first Asian woman to win the Australian Open final on Jan.25th.2014. "People were saying I'm getting old.So this is a great success for such an old woman." the 32-year-old girl joked. Miss Li has a tattoo . She has dyed her hair many different color1s.And, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she told her fans to "shut up" when they got too noisy in their support. Li Na was born in Wuhan.She started to play tennis at the age of 6.She once recalled: "As a child. I suffered a lot because every day I had to wake up early to practice.After school I had to practice more.I didn't have time to play." Luckily, the strong girl didn't give up. thus making history for Chinese tennis time after time.Now the new champion is already thinking about winning another Grand Slam title."When you have one title, surely you will think about another," she says. not hiding her ambition. "Chinese people are so lacking in confidence on the tennis court.If there is a person like me who can prove we Chinese can do it, the other young players in China will feel the same." she said. When she began to play tennis, Li Na was _ . Which of the following statements best explains why the tilt of Earth on its axis causes summer to be warmer than winter in the Northern Hemisphere?
With more and more cars on the road, the traffic _ will happen. How do we see it and how can we solve the problem? We know that the traffic jam happens in many places, especially in big cities. What are reasons for the problem? On one hand, some people think that they should have a car when they have enough money, and then it's easy to go out and they can feel comfortable. On the other hand, a growing number of people hope to use their cars to show off . What's more, years of research has shown that one of other reasons for the traffic jam is the driving habit. For example, many young people enjoy driving very fast, so they can feel excited. At last, most of them hardly care about the speed rules. Many governments are working at how to make the traffic better. In my opinion, firstly, the governments should educate those people who have cars or plan to buy cars. The governments must make them know that the traffic jam is very serious, and set up a much more perfect traffic system to solve the traffic pressure. Why is the traffic jam getting more and more serious? Because there are more and more cars on the roads. Kenya is the first country to protect elephants by text messages. Mobile phone SIM cards are inserted in the collars of elephants. The cards will send a text message when the elephants wander too close to farms, allowing wildlife protectors to drive them off rather than shoot them. Hungry elephants cause big problems for farmers and villagers in some parts of Kenya when they are searching for food. Two years ago the Kenyan wildlife service had to unwillingly shoot five elephants who continued to destroy crops. In order to prevent such bad activities, the Elephants charity put a mobile phone SIM card on a huge bull elephant called Kimani. The conservationists then set up a virtual fence. Each time Kimani came near the fence, a text message was sent to farmers. So far he's been stopped from going into the danger area fifteen times. The project seems to be working successfully as Kimani hasn't come near a farm for four months. A similar system has now been put into operation in another part of the country. One of the biggest benefits of the project is that elephants seem to learn from one another, which can help a whole group change their habits. The elephants can also be tracked using Google Earth software. This is also helping the protectors know where to use their resources to protect the animals well. Elephants often cause problems in Kenya, because _ . they are hungry Many of us use them several times a day without really noticing. And yet the way we behave in lifts, or elevators as they are known in the US, reveals a hidden anxiety. Passengers seem to know instinctively how to arrange themselves in an elevator, like the dots on a die. With each additional passenger, the bodies shift, going into the open spaces. On your own, you can do whatever you want--it's your own little box. If there are two of you, you take different corners, creating the greatest distance. When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a square, with someone in every corner, a fifth person is probable going to have to stand in the middle. Why are we so awkward in lifts? "You don't have enough space," says Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin. "Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm's length of distance between us. And that's not possible in most elevators, so it's a very unusual setting. It's unnatural." But perhaps there is more to it than just social awkwardness. "In the back of our minds we are a little anxious," says Nick White, an officer in New York who was unfortunate enough to be trapped in a lift for 41 hours. "We don't like to be locked into a place. We want to get out of the elevator as soon as possible, you know, it's a frightening place to be." During his terrible experience, he began to think of another enclosed space--a tomb. Dr. Lee Gray agrees that a sense of powerlessness is the main cause of lift anxiety. "You're in a machine that's moving, over which you have no control. You cannot see the elevator engine, you don't know how it's working." he says. What does the text mainly talk about? People's behavior in lifts. I was late on my first day of high school. My next class, Spanish, scared me. As the second bell rang in the hallway, I ran to the door of the classroom. At the door, a hand reached out and shook mine firmly. I looked up. A man smiled and introduced himself as Profe, which means teacher or professor in Spanish. Right away, his warm smile and welcoming words eased my fears. I enjoyed his classes a great deal because I learned more than just Spanish. I admit I only speak a little Spanish. But I try to live out the life lessons I learned from Profe every day. "Everyone is worth your time. " Profe stood outside his classroom door every day before and after class. During lunch, his room was always filled with students. He would stay after school to listen to and chat with students. He taught me that every person is special. "Don't fear the difficulties." One time, I ran into his class crying. My friends had _ me, and I wasn't even sure why they always left me alone. Profe told me, "Linda, life gives you ashes . But learning its lessons will turn those ashes to jewels. The hard stuff will help you become a better person." I learned to look at my troubles differently because I know I'll grow in difficult times. A year ago. I visited my old high school hoping to see Profe. But he had retired. My high school helped me contact him. Now we stay in touch through e-mail. The author William Arthur Ward wrote: "The ordinary teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher shows. The great teacher inspires. " Thank you, Profe, for inspiring me. What is the passage mainly about? The writer learned lots of life lessons from Profe. A trip to the library can change your life.That is the idea of the Get It Loud in Libraries project,which challenges the habit of speaking in a low voice.The sweet tones of singer Diana Vickers rang out recently,surrounded by books as well as fans,at Lancaster Library.Plan B,Adele,Florence and the Machine,Speech Debelle,and the Thrills have also performed for the project. This fiveyear project aims to increase access to libraries while developing youth talent and has attracted more than 8,500 visitors,5,000 of whom are firsttime library users. "I think it's wonderful,"Vickers says."I've been playing in front of big crowds and I'm excited about close environments where you can be close to your fans." As a child growing up in nearby Blackburn,she says that her school library was a "second home"to her.When she was young she lovedPeterRabbitandMr.Menbooks,and later her favorites includedLittleWomenandTheLovelyBones. Attracted by the stage,the young who would once never have been to a library have been returning to borrow books and CDs.The project's founder,Stewart Parsons,has worked in libraries for 25 years.He feels that the concerts have made libraries something that the young want to be part of.A mother,Lauren Zawadzki,sent him a text message after a concert:"Your work is great!!!Both Izaak and Dom have been reading in the library for the last half hour...You should be proud.They would never have suggested that before the concerts." Parsons hopes that the activity is changing the way people view libraries."My big worry is that libraries trail behind slightly;they shouldn't.This is about bringing libraries up to date.The beautiful thing is that people are reconnecting with the library in a way they haven't done before." According to the passage,Zawadzki _ . praised the Get It Loud in Libraries project
It was the first day of second grade, and Sarah had been looking forward to this moment. The night before, she laid out her favorite clothes: a white coat and a bright yellow shirt. When having breakfast, Sarah dropped some food on her shirt, so she had to change into her second-best clothes, blue jeans and a Jonas Brothers T-shirt. After breakfast Sarah rushed to catch the school bus and when she was just reaching the door the bus driver opened it. The door hit right in Sarah's face and blood dripped from her nose. The driver wanted to send her home, but she refused, "It is the most important day of the year! I can't miss it!" Before classes, Sarah went to her favorite swing. When rising high, she saw her best friend little Jack. She let go of the swing and waved to him with one hand. Unfortunately, she flew out of the swing and landed hard on the sand, breaking a leg and an arm. As she lay in the sand, she noticed a shiny thing on the ground beside her. With her good hand she took it. When Sarah' mother rushed into the ward she was surprised by what she saw: her girl was lying in bed with an arm and a leg in the splint , a broken nose, and blood stains on her second-best clothes. Expecting to see her child crying, she was confused when she saw a big, bright smile on Sarah's face. "Sarah, look at you!" her mother cried. "You were hurt so badly and why are you smiling?" "Look, Mommy, I found a diamond!" Sarah laughed. Life can be like that. It can be tough, even painful sometimes. But there are always treasures that make the pain worth suffering. Sarah fell off the swing because _ . Answer: she waved one hand to her friend In order for an animal to need to hibernate, they must be of the species that Answer: instinctively does it Carnival is an explosion of joy. It is a festival that mixes creativity, color1s, sounds, costumes and so on. The carnival in Rio starts on Saturday, and ends on Tuesday. Little need to be said about the carnival in Rio. Every year, Rio hosts the world's largest carnival. The samba school parades are world-famous. The festival begins officially when the city's mayor hands over a giant silver and gold key to the Fat King (King Momo) . Then people dance, sing, party and have tons of fun. There are many parties that take lace before, during and after the carnival all night and all day. Samba schools are not teaching institutions as their names suggests and do not offer samba classes.There are over 70 samba schools in Rio de Janeiro and they all parade during the 4-day celebration.They are organized into six competitive leagues.They are the Special Group A,B,C,Dand E.The first three groups parade in the Sambodromo.The other groups parade on the streets and are free to watch and join in.The biggest and most popular 12 leading schools are from the Special Group.They create a pageant with 3,000 to 5,000 people competing in the Samba Parade in the Sambodromo on Carnival Sunday and Monday. Balls takes place every night throughout the week, together with a variety of costume contests. One of the most frequent questions we hear is " What is the date of the carnival this year?" Well, believe it or not , it is not an easy question to answer. You have to be part astrologer , part mathematician, and part priest. People can see the best samba parades on _ Answer: Sunday and Monday It started as a game.Wendy and Peter were in River Park.They watched the boats in the river and visited the zoo.They played on the slides and swings.They watched the merry-go-round,but they did not have money for a ride.They ate their sandwiches at a picnic table.Suddenly Wendy jumped up. "I know what to do,"she said."Look at all that junk under the tables.Let's pick it up." So they picked up paper and empty boxes and cans.They put them in the green cans marked"Litter".Peter's dog Stoopy picked up some paper and ran away with it.Peter called him back and took it from him.Then they taught Stoopy to carry trash for them.They put it in the cans.They worked until there was no trash left on the picnic grounds. The next day their friends Mario and Andy came to the park with them.They helped to tidy the picnic grounds again.Then they ran all over the park looking for litter.They tried to see who could find the most.After that,it was a game they played every time they came to the park. One day,a man came with a camera.He watched what they were doing.He asked to take a picture for them.Then he took them all for a free ride on the merry-go-round,even Stoopy.The next day their picture was in the newspaper.It said."Five Litter Lifters at River Park".After that all their friends wanted to be litter lifters.It was the beginning of a club that was a model for others to follow. What did the man with the camera do? Answer: He took a picture of the litter lifters for a newspaper. Last winter vacation, our class went to Xiangshan for a trip.Though the weather was a little cold, it was sunny. At six in the morning we met at the school gate.We took a bus there.On the bus, our monitor told us an interesting story.The story was about an interesting man.Then three girls in our class sang songs.We were very happy. At about seven thirty we got there.It was a beautiful mountain.There were many visitors.Then we started to climb the mountain.The boys had a climbing race .Li Ming won the first prize.He got a blue hat.At about nine o'clock we met a famous singer.Qi Hui and Ma Yan even got his autographs.They were very excited. We had lunch in the mountain.We brought food from home and ate together. After lunch we went to the zoo, because the was a new member in the zoo.It was a cheetah .It came from Africa. Finally, we took the bus back to school.Although we were tired, we really had fun. How was the weather on that day? Answer: It was cold, but sunny.
For years scientists have been worried about the effects of air pollution on the earth's natural conditions. Some believe the air inside many houses may be more dangerous than the air outside. It may be one hundred times worse. Indoor air pollution can cause a person to feel tired, to suffer eye pain, headache and other problems. Some pollutants can cause breathing disorders, diseases of blood and even cancer. Most scientists agree that every modern house has some kind of indoor pollution. People have paid more attention to the problem now. It is true that when builders began making houses and offices they did not waste energy. To do this they build buildings that limited the flow of air between inside and outside. They also began using man-made building materials. These materials are now known to let out harmful gases. As the problem became more serious, scientists began searching for a way to deal with it. They discovered a natural pollution control system for building--green plants. Scientists do not really know how plants control air pollution. They believe that a plant's leaves absorb or take in the pollutants. In exchange the plant lets out oxygen through its leaves and tiny organizations on its roots. Scientists suggest that all buildings should have one large plant or several small plants inside for every nine square meters of space. Studies of different plants show that each absorbs different chemicals. So the most effective way to clean the air is to use different kinds of plants. Having green plants inside your house can make it a prettier and healthier place. The reason why we should use different kinds of plants to clean the air is that Answer: While we are still children ,most of us live at home with our parents, more or less peacefully . But as we become teenagers , things change ,and we begin to grow apart from our parents . This means we are almost ready to leave the house where we grew up and make a new home of our own . All humans must do this ,but they don't all do it in the same way . If ,for instance ,you belong to a primitive tribe ,then as you grew up ,you'd learn the skills you needed as an adult---how to catch fish ,how to keep the house and look after children . You would be ready to marry in your early teens and you would build a house and live near your family in the village. This seems a very old way of life , but it is what humans have been used to through hundreds of years. And it is what we are still used to in the 21stcentury ,for man hasn't changed in the short time since he became civilized . But could you leave home and look after yourself during the teen years ? Most people would not do very well . Why ? Because although man hasn't changed very much , the society he lives in has changed greatly ,which means that we have to learn more and more before we are ready to leave our parents' shelter( ) and live alone . However ,sometimes it is very frustrating to live at parents' home . Parents can be very upset about late nights ,criticizing friends and always saying that we are noisy and dirty . But we still need our emotional shelter till we finish our studies , and that is why we usually stay in our parents' home until we feel grown up enough to deal with living alone . For most teenagers of the 21stcentury ,making a new home of their own may be _ . Answer: Bay Village Branch, 502 Cahoon Road, 440-871-6392. The Egyptian Pyramids, 7 p. m. Sept. 17. Join us as Don King, a long-time student of Egyptology, discusses the pyramids and presents the possible theories of the construction, design and mysteries surrounding these ancient wonders. Join us as local Bay Village resident, Tom Bell, discusses his book "My Dad Is a Freak: a Memoir", 7 p.m.Sept. 27. Fairview Park Branch, 21255 Lorain Road, 440-333-4700 or cuyahogalibrary. org. Dress for Success, 7 p. m. Sept. 17. First impressions count. Some job recruiters use appearance to determine self-esteem, respect, confidence and organizational skills. Learn how to dress to emphasize your strengths and improve your employ ability. Registration required. Music Study Groups, 1:15--2:45 p. m. Wednesdays, Sept. 19--Nov. 28. Explore current concert music performed by The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall through informal lectures and listening. Classes are designed for both new and experienced music lovers and are led by Dr. Rose Breckenridge. Practical Herbs, 7 p. m. Oct. 3. Famous doctor Sarah Hurt will talk about growing, drying and storing herbs and how to use them. Registration required. North Olmsted Branch, 27403 Lorain Road. 440-777-6211 or cuyahogalibrary. org. Job Club, 1:30--3 p. m. Tuesdays. Join Jim Hansen for helpful tips on resumes, job search strategies and interviewing. Anyone who is job hunting or looking to change careers is welcome. War of 1812, 7--8:45 p. m. Sept. 17. This year marks the 200thanniversary. Professor Catherine Rokicky From Cuyahoga Community College will give a presentation about the war, and immediately following we'll discuss the book "Mr. and Mrs. Madison's War: America's First Couple and the Second War of Independence" by Hugh Howard. Registration required. Olmsted Falls Library, 7850 Main St. , Olmsted Falls. 440-235-1150 or cuyahogalibrary. org. Family Story-time, 7--7:30 p. m. Wednesdays, through Nov. 27. Join us for rhymes, songs, finger-plays and a story or two. For children ages birth through age 8 with their caregivers. Huntington Practice SAT Test, 10 a. m. to 1 p. m. Sept. 15. Follow up, 4--5 p. m. Sept. 26. Get ready for college by taking a practice SAT exam. Discuss strategies to improve your score, and get tips on preparing for the real exam. Registration required. Imaginative Illustrations, 11 a. m. to noon Sept. 29. A hands-on drawing program where children exercise their imagination while experiencing some basic techniques of cartooning. Grades K-5. Registration required. There are many activities for you to choose on Sept. 17 EXCEPT _ . Answer: There are two kinds of changeschemical change and physical change. In a chemical change, there is always a new substance formed. Breaking up water into hydrogen and oxygen is a chemical change. In each of the chemical change at least one new substance is formed. A change is not a chemical change if it doesn't form a new substance. Physical changes are very common, too. There are many examples. You can make a physical change by tearing a piece of paper into two, or by cutting a piece of iron with lathe . Here paper is still paper, and the iron is still iron. Another way of making physical change is dissolving something in water. When you dissolve salt in water, the salt disappears. You may think that a new substance has been formed. But really there is no new substance. The salt is still salt. You can still taste it. So the dissolving of anything is a physical change. When water freezes, the change is also a physical one. The water changes from liquid to solid, but it is still the same substance. That is why the freezing of anything is a physical change. In a physical change _ .is formed. Answer: What does a frog eat? Answer:
There are fifty states in the United States. The largest in population is California,the largest in area is Alaska. Alaska is the smallest in population and Rhode Island is the smallest in size. The oldest states are the ones along the Atlantic coast. The newest states are Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska is also the coldest state. California and Florida are the warmer. Henry and his family live in Seattle, a big city, on the Pacific coast. But Los Angeles and San Francisco, also on the Pacific coast, are larger than Seattle. Henry's cousin, Susan, lives in New York. It is the largest city in the United States. Thousands of people visit New York each year. The most important city in the United States is Washington D. C. It is the capital, but it is much smaller than New York. Which state is the largest in population? Answer: My English teacher is very funny. He has really long hair and wears an earring on one ear. He likes to wear purple shirts and orange pants. He also uses all kinds of slang words from the 1970s. When he likes something, he'll say it's really "groovy" . I think he played the guitar in a rock band when he was young. One day, he walks into the classroom and sees that there is a new student. He asks him, "Hey, man, what's happening?" The student is very confused, but we all laugh because we know that the teacher is just saying hello. "You're new, aren't you?" the teacher asks. The student is surprised and says to himself, "Is this a teacher? He looks strange." Then he explains to all of us, "Sorry. Maybe I'm in the wrong classroom." What does the writer think of his teacher? Answer: Whenever scientists carefully measure any quantity many times, they expect that Answer: Tomorrow is Saturday. I'm not going to work, and my brother isn't going to school. We are going to play table tennis. We are going to have lunch in a restaurant. We're coming home at five. My parents are going to visit my grandparents. They are going to get home at half past five. We are going to help my mother cook the dinner. After supper, I am going to dance with my friends, and my brother is going to watch TV with my parents. What day is it today? Answer: The car was invented just a century ago. You may know all kinds of cars' names, but many people don't know who was the inventor of the first car. The first car was invented not by a German, but by an American. His name was Henry Ford. Henry was born in a poor family. He was the eldest of six children. When he was a boy, he became interested in mending watches and machines. When he was twelve years old, his mother died. Soon he had to work in a machine shop for two dollars and fifty cents a week. In the evenings he repaired watches for another dollar a week. The hard life made him strong and able. At that time there was another interest in the life of the young ford. He dreamed to make a machine. It could run without a horse, so named "horseless carriage." He over-came a lot of difficulties and in April 1893, the "horseless carriage" was finally finished. It was the first car. Later Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company . He was really the first inventor of the car in the world. How many dollars did young Ford earn every week? _ . Answer:
Mrs.Green was eighty,but she had a small car,and she always drove to the shops on Saturday and bought her food.She didn't drive fast because she was old,but she drove well and never hit anything. Sometimes her grandchildren said to her,"Please don't drive your car,grandmother.We can take you to the shops." But she always said,"No,I like driving.I've been driving it for fifty years,and I'm not going to stop driving." Last Saturday she stopped her car at some traffic lights because they were red and then it did not start again.The lights were green,then yellow,then red,then green again,but her car didn't start. "What am I going to do now? "she said. At this time a policeman came and said to her kindly,"Good morning.Don't you like any of our colours today? " Which of the following is right? A Mrs.Green stopped her car at the red light. B Her grandchildren wanted to buy some food for her. C Mrs.Green stopped her car on the street because she enjoyed the lights. D The policeman wanted to know if Mrs.Green liked any of the colours. Answer: A "Fingers were made before forks." When a person gives up good manners, put aside knife and fork, and dives into his food, someone is likely to repeat that saying. The fork was an ancient agricultural tool, but for centuries no one thought of eating with it. Not until the eleventh century, when a young lady from Constantinople brought her fork to Italy, did the custom reach Europe. By the fifteenth century the use of the fork was wide-spread in Italy. The English explanation was that Italians were unwilling to eat food touched with fingers, "seeing all men's fingers are not alike clean. Anyone who used a fork to eat with was laughed at in England for the next hundred years. Not until the late 1600's did using a fork become a common custom. The custom of eating with a fork was _ . A brought to Europe from America B begun when forks first invented C brought to Europe from Constantinople D thought of by the Italians Answer: C Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are now a part of everyday driving in many counties.These satellite-based systems provide turn-by-turn directions to help people get to where they want to go. But, they can also cause a lot of problems, send you to the wrong place or leave you completely lost. Many times, the driver is to blame. Sometimes a GPS error is responsible. Most often, says Barry Brown, it is a combination of the two. Barry Brown is with the Mobile Life Centre in Stockholm, Sweden. The center studies human-computer interaction, or HCI, especially communications involving wireless devices. He told us about an incident involving a friend who had flown to an airport in the eastern United States. There he borrowed a GPS-equipped car to use during his stay. "And they just plugged in an address and then set off to their destination. And, then it wasn't until they were driving for thirty minutes until they realized they actually put in a destination back on the West Coast where they lived. They actually put their home address in. So again, the GPS is kind of 'garbage in garbage out'." Mr. Brown says this is a common human error. But, he says, what makes the problem worse has to do with some of the shortcomings, or failures, of GPS equipment. "One problem with a lot of the GPS units is they have a very small screen and they just tell you the next turn. Because they just give you the next turn, sometimes that means that it is not really giving you the overview that you would need to know that it's going to the wrong place." The Mobile Life Centre in Sweden foruses on the research into _ . A computer-computer interaction B human-computer interaction C satellite-satellite system D human-satellite system Answer: B The Post Office in Britain is famous for getting letters and parcels to places to which they should be sent. The problem is that we the public have to observe the rules. For example, we must put a stamp on a letter. If we don't, the receiver will have to pay double. We often see the sign ALL LETTERS MUST BE CORRECTLY ADDRESSED. These days, this means having to use postcodes. If you didn't use a postcode, it's no good complaining that your letter should have arrived sooner. Parcels are a problem because they must be correctly packaged. If Aunt Sophie is going to send you a jar of your favorite jam, she will have to wrap it up well. The most important thing we have to do is to address our letters and parcels legibly and correctly. This means clear handwriting and correct spelling. What we should do and what we actually do are often miles apart. Recently, the Post Office had to deliver a letter which showed a name followed by the word Arijaba. What is this, do you think? Arabic? Hiodustani ? Wrong both times! Say it out loud and you'll see it's just plain English. HARWICH HARBOUR! When we post parcels, we must _ . A address them correctly B address them clearly C package them correctly D all of the above Answer: D There are four people in the twins' family. They are the twins, their father and their mother. The twins' names are Lucy and Lily. They are fourteen. They are in the same class in NO.1 Middle School. They are very good students. They not only work very hard but also sing very well. They want to join the music club. Lucy wants to play the piano. Lily can play the guitar. Their father, Mr. King, is a teacher. He teaches English in a school near his home. Their mother, Mrs. King, is a teacher, too. She teaches Chinese. Mr. and Mrs. King are in different schools. But they have the same hobby--play the guitar. Their parents work _ . A in the same school B in the hospital C in the factory D in different schools Answer: D
Question: A handsome man can earn a fifth more than an average-looking colleague but a beautiful woman is not paid a penny more than her average-looking colleague, new research has shown. The study by senior economists found that being good-looking meant male workers could earn 22 percent more than average-looking colleagues. Researchers said good looks did not give women a similar advantage. Andrew Leigh, a former economics professor at the Australian National University who co-authored the report, said: "Beauty can be a double-edged sword for women." "Some people still believe good looks and intelligence are incompatible in women, so a good-looking women can't be that productive, but it doesn't affect men's pay." He said that although he believed good-looking women may also earn more, the research did not support his theory. The research found that handsome men in all jobs, from manual labour to highly-paid professional careers, can earn 22 percent more than their colleagues doing the same work. Men with below-average looks face a battle in the office, with ugliness reducing a man's earnings by 26 percent compared to an average-looking worker. Former male model, Caitlan Mitchell, 28, who has a first class degree in history from Edinburgh University and now works for a cosmetics company, told theSunday Times:' It gives you confidence, and I suspect people tend to warm to you more quickly." The study, named Unpacking the Beauty Premium, was the largest exercise of its kind and repeated a survey from 1984 to see if the beauty premium had changed. Leigh said the research showed people in the workplace were "lookist "and he hoped the findings would encourage employers to remove their prejudice. What has the research found? A. Male workers pay more attention to their appearance. B. Handsome men have an advantage in their jobs. C. Appearance plays an important role at work. D. The more beautiful a female is, the lower their intelligence is. Answer: B Question: Steven Jobs was born in 1955. He was an American businessman and inventor. He was the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Apple Inc. In the late 1970s, Steve, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula, and others, designed, developed, and marketed one of the first successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series and later, the Macintosh. Steve was among the greatest of American inventors - brave enough to think differently, and believed he could change the world and in fact, he had the power to change the whole world. By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. He changed the way each of us sees the world. Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is much better because of Steve. On October 5, 2011, Steve died of cancer. The world has lost _ . We all feel sad about it. What would be the best title for this passage? A. Steve Jobs' death B. Our loss of a great CEO C. A great inventor, Steve Jobs D. The great changes in our lives Answer: C Question: Findings from a new study were presented at a recent meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society. Researchers in the United States studied 100,000 women during an eight-year period, beginning in 1994. All of the women were fifty or older. The study was part of the Women's Health Initiative organized by the National Institutes of Health. The women were asked questions measuring their beliefs or ideas about the future. The researchers attempted to identify each woman's personality eight years after gathering the information. The study found that hopeful individuals were 14% less likely than other woman to have died from any cause. The hopeful women were also 30 less likely to have died from heart disease after the eight years, Hilary Tinkle from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania was the lead author of the report. She said the study confirmed earlier research that linked optimistic feelings to longer life. The researchers also gathered information about people's education, financial earnings, physical activity and use of alcohol or cigarettes. Independent of those things, the findings still showed that optimists had less of a chance of dying during the eight-year period. Some women who answered the questions were found to be hostile , or highly untrusting of others. These women were 16% more likely to die than the others. They also were 23% more likely to die of cancer. The study also found women who were not optimistic were more likely to smoke and have high blood pressure or diabetes. They were also more likely mot to exercise. Tindle says the study did not confirm whether optimism leads to healthier choices, or if it actually affects a person's physical health. She also says the study does not prove that negative emotions or distrust lead to bad health effects and shorter life. Yet there does appear to be a link that calls for more research. Researchers carry out the study to _ . A. decide who is more likely to enjoy a happier life. B. gather information for the National Institutes of Health. C. find out the link between personality and health. D. compare each woman's personality changes. Answer: C Question: After a day of work and play, the body needs to rest. Sleep is necessary for good health. During this time, the body recovers from the activities of the previous day. The rest that you get while sleeping enables your body to prepare itself for the next day. There are four levels of sleep, each being a little deeper than the one before. As you sleep, your muscles relax little by little. Your heart beats more slowly, and your brain slows down. After you reach the fourth level, your body shifts back and forth from one level of sleep to the other. Although your mind slows down, from time to time you will dream. Scientists who study sleep state that when dreaming occurs your eyeballs begin to move quickly (although your eyelids are closed). This stage of sleep is called REM, which stands for rapid eye movement. If you have trouble falling asleep, some people recommend breathing very slowly and very deeply. Other people believe that drinking warm milk will help make you drowsy. There is also an old suggestion that counting sheep will put you to sleep. A good title for this passage is _ . A. Sleep. B. Good Health C. Dreams D. Work and Rest Answer: A Question: Holding doors open, picking up rubbish, thanking people ... these acts of kindness seem very small. But students at Tibbett Middle School know that it's the small acts that make the world a better place. Eighth-graders from New Mexico, US, took part in the Random Acts of Kindness Week from Feb 10 to 14. During the week, they tried their best to do kind things for others, or for the environment. Celeste Murray, an English teacher at the school, started the activity. "I believe the world is changed by little things," she told the local newspaper. Over the week, Murray said she has seen changes in her class. Previously, she asked her students to push the chairs in after class. Now, the students do it by themselves. "The teachers will have less work," said Elisa Castaneda, one of Murray's students. Jordan Marshall, another eighth-grader, spent the week giving out praise . "It makes that person's day ," she said. "Besides helping others, the activity made students feel that they can make a difference," Murray said. Eighth-grader Haley Echols decided to continue to do at least one act of kindness every week. She believes her acts could encourage others. Random Acts of Kindness Week was started by _ . A. some eighth-graders B. the school C. a teacher D. some parents Answer: C
Getting a new PC is one thing, Keeping it running smoothly is quite another. While a personal computer should continue to perform well for years, users know that system unsteadiness does exist Yet you can reduce it to the smallest amount by following the tips below . First, put in as little software as possible. You'11 have fewer software -related problems and a system that is easier to manage. Second, you should ensure that you have as much memory (RAM) in your PC as you need If you run Windows 98,your computer should have as least 128 megabytes (MB)of RAM and more You can also get by with 128 MB of RAM if you use Windows NT or Windows2000,but these operating systems will run much more smoothly if you have 256 MB of RAM or more. Third, make sure you buy good hardware. Noname products may be cheaper and sometimes just as good as named-brand products, but name-brand products usually became well-known because of famous companies because Windows will more often support the hardware that you buy ,If you are starting out with to have been tested thoroughly with your operating system, and you will generally experience fewer problems. Fourth, do prepare for disaster .No matter how well your system runs when you get it ,the day will come when it will need to be replaced .Hopefully, you will replace it because technology has become outdated, but you may need to replace it also because the hard drive crashes or you begin experiencing problems that no one can figure out .That's why it 's important to you're your important to copy your important information regularly. Whether you use a tape backup device or a CD-RW drive, it's important to make a regular backup plan and stick to it . It can be inferred from the passage that...... Answer: Your computer might lose all the information it stores when it crashes . Thomas Edison was one of ten said to be the greatest genius of his age. There are only a few men in all of the 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 happy only because someone said he was a genius." There is no such thing as genius," Edison said. He said that what people called genius was mostly hard work. But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. Nature, he often said, is full of secrets. He tried to understand them; then, he tried to learn what could usefully be done with them. Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure. Edison could not understand how anyone could be uninterested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what ideas 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. Edison thought _ . Answer: hard work could do better than genius What would a fly find most compelling? Answer: a steak forgotten on a counter for an entire day "Heaven is where the police are English, the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and everything is organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and everything is organized by the Italians." Obviously the national stereotypes in this old joke are generalizations , but such stereotypes are often said to "exist for a reason". Is there actually a sliver of truth in them? Not likely, an international research team now says. "National and cultural stereotypes do play an important role in how people see themselves and others, and being aware that these are not dependable is a useful thing," said study author Robert McCrae of the National Institute on Aging. "These are in fact unfounded stereotypes. They don't come from looking around you," McCrae said. If national stereotypes aren't rooted in real experiences, then where do they come from? One possibility is that they reflect national values, which may become known from historical events. For example, many historians have argued that the spirit of American individualism has its origins in the experiences of the pioneers on the Old West. Social scientists such as psychologist Richard Robins have given several other possible explanations for stereotypes and why they may be incorrect. Robins notes that some stereotypes may have been correct at one point in history and then remained unchanged while the culture changed. We may be _ , to some degree, to keep incorrect stereotypes, since we are less likely to notice and remember information that is different from our stereotypes. Generally, according to Robins, when we meet people who are different from our stereotypes, we see them as unique individuals rather than typical national or cultural groups. National stereotypes are not always correct because _ . Answer: what was true in the past may not be true at the present My son was a second-grader. He went to school by bus every day. He was the first student on in the morning, as we were farthest from school, and the last student off in the evening. I was a teacher myself and it was a comfort to realize the school staff were all working as hard as I was to provide a safe learning environment. One day I came home from work and waited for my son to get home for a long time. Then I called the school. "Perhaps he's just a bit late," said the secretary. "I will call the driver to see if those children are home." A few minutes later, I answered the phone to hear that the other students were home. Then I called his friends' parents, to see if perhaps he had gotten off at their stop to play. The answers were all "No." By that time, it was dark and I was scared. My home was in the mountain areas, and it was said that a wolf had come up somewhere. My husband wasn't at home, so I forced myself to calm down and decided to go out to look for him. I was about to go out when the telephone rang; it was from the driver. "He's okay," I heard. "He was asleep on the seats in the back, under a couple of jackets. Since it's dark, can he spend the night with my family?" I was relieved and agreed. Since my son had a great adventure, the school started giving a copy of the list to the driver, so he could check off the children's names when they got off the bus. I think highly of the school for taking the cautionary step ahead; it is a sign of their concern for students, parents, and staff. The author's son probably spent the night _ . Answer: at the driver's home
The English policeman has several nicknames but the most frequently used are "copper" and "bobby". The first name comes from the verb to "cop", meaning to "take" or "capture", and the second comes from the first name of Sir Robert Peel, the nineteenth-century politician, who was the founder of the police force as we know it today. An early nickname for the policeman was "peeler", but this one has died out. Whatever we may call them, the general opinion about the police seems to be a good one except, of course, among the criminal part of the community where the police are given more bad nicknames which came from America, such as "fuzz" or "pig". Visitors to prefix = st1 /Englandseem, nearly always, to be very impressed by the English police. It has, in fact, become a standing joke that the visitor toBritain, when asked for his views of the country, will always say, "I think your policemen are wonderful." Well, the British bobby may not always be wonderful but he is usually a very friendly and helpful sort of character. A music-hall song of some years ago was called, "If You Want To Know The Time, Ask A Policeman". Nowadays, most people own watches but they still seem to find plenty of other questions to ask the policemen. In London, the policemen spend so much of their time directing visitors about the city that one wonders how they ever find time to do anything else! Two things are noticeable to the stranger, when he sees an English policeman for the first time. The first is that he does not carry a gun and the second is that he wears a very special type of helmet . His helmet, together with his height, enables an English policeman to be seen from a long distance, a fact that is not without its usefulness. From time to time it is suggested that the policeman should be given a gun and that his helmet should be taken from him, but both these suggestions are not accepted by the majority of the public and the police themselves. In London, what do the policemen often do during their work-time nowadays? A. Direct anyone in the city B. Tell others the time C. Nothing D. Show visitors the right way in the city Answer: D. Show visitors the right way in the city As part of a comprehensive federal aid-to-education program, Congress included the following provisions as conditions for state receipt of federal funds: (1) Whenever textbooks are provided to students without charge, they must include no religious instruction and must be made available on the same terms to students in all public and private schools accredited by the state educational authority. (2) Salary supplements can be paid to teachers in public and private schools, up to 10 percent of existing salary schedules, where present compensation is less than the average salary for persons of comparable training and experience, provided that no such supplement is paid to any teacher who instructs in religious subjects. (3) Construction grants can be made toward the cost of physical plant at private colleges and universities, provided that no part of the grant is used for buildings in which instruction in religious subject matters is offered."Federal taxpayer Bates also challenges the construction grants to church-operated private colleges and universities. The most likely result is that the construction grants will be A. sustained, because aid to one aspect of an institution of higher education not shown to be pervasively sectarian does not necessarily free it to spend its other resources for religious purposes. B. sustained, because bricks and mortar do not aid religion in a way forbidden by the establishment clause of the First Amendment. C. held unconstitutional, because any financial aid to a church-operated school strengthens the religious purposes of the institution. D. held unconstitutional, because the grants involve or cause an excessive entanglement with religion Answer: A. sustained, because aid to one aspect of an institution of higher education not shown to be pervasively sectarian does not necessarily free it to spend its other resources for religious purposes. A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a series of reports from NatWesl that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, are particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts than any before. Universitytuition fees are currently capped at PS3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to _ In the research, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average PS 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just PS 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than PS 10.000. Average debts for graduates are PS 12,363. Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively." Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweather aged 15 from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money. What can we learn from the passage? A. Many British teenagers do not know money matters well B. Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts. C. Financial planning is a required course at college. D. Young people should become responsible adults. Answer: A. Many British teenagers do not know money matters well Everyone hates to wait in lines. We get that anxious feeling that our precious life is slipping away while we're doing something so meaningless. But it's not always the length of the wait we find so unbearable. Some people camp outside Apple stores for an entire night just to get their hands on the latest product. But waiting 10 minutes in a grocery store just to buy a drink? Forget it. Our behavior when waiting is only partly decided by the length of the wait. "Often the psychology of queuing is more important than the statistics of the wait itself," notes the MIT researcher Richard Larson. One apparent aspect of queuing psychology is that we get bored when we wait in line. This issue is solved in many ways, from magazines in hospital waiting rooms to mirrors in elevators so that we can check our appearance. We really hate it when we expect a short wait and then get a long one. But studies show that we are much more patient when we are given an idea of how long we'll be waiting. Walt Disney Co knows this better than anyone else. It posts estimated waiting times for attractions in its theme parks. But according to Larson, these times are overestimated so that visitors get to the front of the queue more quickly than they expect. It keeps them happy. But perhaps the biggest influence on our feelings about waiting in a line has to do with our sense of fairness. When it comes to queues, the universally acknowledged standard is first come, first served. Any departure from this principle is regarded as unfair and can lead to violent queue anger. You've probably experienced mild queue anger yourself in fast food restaurants, watching people in the other line zoom ahead of you, cursing yourself for having chosen the "wrong" line. In order to solve this problem, the serpentine line was invented. The serpentine line guides all customers into one big snaking queue, separated by ropes or barriers. When you reach the head of the queue, you are directed to the next available server, or teller, or customs official. The serpentine line isn't always faster than multi-lines before an array of cash registers. But it offers important comfort: you absolutely never have to see someone arrive after you and get served before you. In life, waiting is inevitable. But a better understanding of the psychology of waiting can help make it a bit more bearable. When all else fails, bring a book or a smart phone will also do. The main purpose of the passage is _ . A. to explain the advantages of serpentine line B. to introduce ways of saving time in queuing C. to offer an explanation of the psychology of queuing D. to analyze the psychology of people queuing for Apple products Answer: C. to offer an explanation of the psychology of queuing Lombard Street (San Francisco, USA) Known as "the world's most-crooked street," Lombard Street was first built in 1922 to reduce the hill's natural 27 % grade ,which was too steep for most vehicles. Lombard Street owns the record as the street with the most switchbacks in a single block. With eight steep and sharp turns, Lombard Street looks like a giant dizzy snake lying on the road. This famous street in San Francisco is known as the most-challenging street of all. Parliament Street (Exeter, England) This street in England is over a hundred years old today, but what makes it as an urban wonder is not its age but its unbelievable narrow size. Usually, a street is where a vehicle can conveniently pass, but that will never happen in the Parliament Street, as the street measures just 25 inches wide which is just enough for a ly medium-built person to pass. King Fahd's Fountain (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) The fountain was donated to the city by King Fahd. Being the world's tallest fountain, it deserves to be an urban wonder. It was constructed between 1980 and 1983. This fountain shoots water in an incredible 1023-foot (312m) height which is greater than the height of the Eifel Tower. Because of its seemingly unreachable height, the waters of the King Fahd's Fountain can be sighted even if the visitors are miles apart. Damanhur Temple (Northern Alps of Italy) The underground of the modest homes of Italy's northern Alps is where a massive, richly -decorated temple is found. The Damanhur Temple was secretly constructed in the 1970s. Decorated with impressive murals and vividly-color1ed stain glass, the temple was once seized by the Italian government due to illegalities. After some time, it was returned to Oberto Airaudi, the builder and founder of Damanhur. Why was Lombard Street built that way? A. To ease the traffic. B. To challenge citizens. C. To attract visitors. D. To set a record. Answer: A. To ease the traffic.
When I walk through the streets, I pass strange rooms where people are doing strange things. Some are biking madly. Others are holding metal bars to keep them from dropping down. Still others are jumping around while someone is shouting at them. It looks like something out of Dante's Inferno (<<>> <<>> ). But what is the most amazing is that people pay for these sufferings! The strange rooms are gyms. It is reported that some 41 million Americans are gym members. 12% of the memberships are born in January, as they are determined to knock off the holiday fat. Maybe it is good to exercise in the gym. However, should they know they can keep in good shape, spending little money, would they still agree with its necessity? At the age of 23, I joined a gym. I lifted weights twice a week in Muscle's Gym. I paid as little as $200 per year. You can't find such gyms in every city any more. Too often, the gym is fancy with lots of equipment. If you ask how much it costs to join it, the person at the front desk often won't tell you straight. Instead, he'll let you meet with a fitness consultant , who will provide you with a great number of reasons and suggestions, such as losing weight and getting healthier, just in order to put pressure on you to spend much money joining the gym and becoming a member there. Working out with the help of equipment at home has problems, too. In the early 2000's, I bought a spinning bike at a cost of $700 for home use. I tried a few times only to find that it brought me a neck problem. Now I'm back to my old way. I do Yoga every morning and evening. Total cost: $60 for an exercise mat . I'm enjoying fitness. From the text we can infer that _ . A many Americans put on weight after Christmas and New Year's Day B the author and his family had spent a lot of money exercising in gyms C 12% of the American people are members of gyms D spinning bikes are good equipment for exercise Answer: A. many Americans put on weight after Christmas and New Year's Day When the Platypus emerges into the pouch it has been A ran B died C birthed D flown Answer: C. birthed Conserving water can be used for survival where? A seas B oceans C sandy land D towns Answer: C. sandy land Su Hua is studying at Cambridge, UK. She has bought a bicycle and is worried about security. Her friend, Kate, found this article and sent it to her. www.zxxk.com Introduction A lot of crime is against bicycles. About 150,000 bicycles are stolen every year and most are never found. You can prevent this happening by following a few careful steps. Basic Security Do not leave your bicycle in out-of-the-way places. Always lock your bicycle when you leave. Secure it to lampposts or trees. Take off smaller parts and take them with you, for example lights and saddles . Locks Get a good lock. There are many different types in the shop. Buy one that has been tested against attack. Ask for a recommendation from a bike shop. Marking Security marking your bike can act as a deterrent to a thief. It can also help the police find your bicycle. It should be clearly written and include your postcode and your house or flat number. This will provide a simple way to identify your bicycle. Registration There are a number of companies who will mark your bicycle for you. They will then put your registration number and personal details on their computer database. Then if your bicycle is found it will be easy to contact you. Finally Keep a record of the bicycle yourself: its make, model and registration number. You can even take a photograph of it, this will prove the bicycle belongs to you. Which of the following statements is true? A More than 150,000 bicycles are stolen every year. B Leave your bicycle in out-of-the-way places. C Taking a photograph of your bike will help prove the bicycle belongs to you. D Always lock your bicycle even if you don't leave. Answer: C. Taking a photograph of your bike will help prove the bicycle belongs to you. The Greens are English. Now they are in Beijing. This is their first visit to China. They are going to stay in China for three weeks. They want to visit some big cities and villages. They want to learn some Chinese. Mr Green is driver. He likes driving in Beijing very much. Mrs Green is a teacher. She is visiting a middle school near Beijing. Their son Jim is a middle school student. He meets some Chinese students, and he likes to speak English with them. They take a lot of photos in China. When they are back in English, they are going to show the photos to their friends. They want the English people to know more about China. The Greens are from _ . A America B England C Australia D Canada Answer: B. England
Many young people want to become pop-stars. It is their great ambition in life. They think pop-stars earn a lot of money, they lead interesting and exciting lives, thousands of fans love them, and they become famous! Yes, but first they must become stars. Most performers star life with a group. This is the pattern nowadays. But there are many groups and competitions are hard. Groups appear and disappear almost overnight. Only a small number survive. Almost without exception they have to work very hard before they reach the top. And very few reach the top and stay there. In England there are perhaps thirty or so groups at the top. Most of these do not earn so much money, perhaps 500 pounds each time they perform. What's more, they have quite a lot of expenses . They have to pay a manager, for example. He is the key person in their lives and takes about 20% of their earnings-perhaps more. Then there are their clothes, their instruments and their van. Sometimes they are still playing for the last two items. And don't forget, they have to travel a great deal-sometimes 2,000 miles in one week. At times they even sleep in their van instead of a hotel, just to save money. So now, what do you think? Are pop-stars so rich? And do they have such exciting lives? Why is the group's manager well paid? Because _ . A he runs this group B he looks after them C he is important to them D he buys them clothes and instruments Answer: C STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember with People In America in VOA Special English. Today we remember the singer and actress Lena Horne. During her sixty-year career performing, Lena Horne entertained people with her beauty and rich, emotional voice. She used her fame to fight social injustices toward African-Americans. Lena Horne was born in New York. At sixteen, Lena became a dancer at the famous club in New York City in 1933. After taking voice lessons, she soon became a singer. In 1940, Lena Horne became the first African-American to perform with an all-white jazz hand. After performing at a club in Hollywood, California, she caught the attention of filmmakers. She soon began making movies. Her films became very popular. In the 1940s, Lena Horne was the first African-American in Hollywood to sing a long -term contract with a major movie studio. Her deal with MGM stated that she would never play the role of a servant. She refused to play roles that represented African-Americans disrespectfully. Lena Horne once said that World War II helped make her a star. She was popular with both black and white soldiers. She sang on army radio programs and traveled to perform for the troops. These experiences led to Lena Horne's work in the civil rights movement. Lena Horne sang at rights gatherings. She took part in the march on Washington protest in 1963. It was during this event that Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream" speech. She protested racial separation at the hotels where she performed. She took action so that she and her musicians would be allowed to stay in those hotels. B1ack musicians at the time generally stayed in black neighborhoods. At the age of eighty, she said she did not have to act like a white woman that Hollywood hoped she would become. She said: "I'm me, and I'm like nobody else." Lena Horne died in New York in 2010. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? A Lena Home became the first African-American in Hollywood in her forties. B Dena Horne was a friend of Martin Luther King. C Lena Horne was involved in civil rights activities in the 1960s. D Lena Horne took an active part in sports activities. Answer: C Alicia Keys was born in 1981 and grew up in New York. She had music and dance classes when she was a child and she first appeared on TV in the Cosby Show at the age of four. She started piano lessons when she was seven and learned classical music before she began to write her own songs at the age of 14. Alicia signed a contract with J Records in 1999. She recorded several songs for films before her first album, Songs in Minor, came out in 2001. This was a fantastic success. It entered the charts at number one, sold 236,000 copies in its first week, and went on to sell over 12 million copies worldwide. Alicia won five big awards, including _ ', the album's top single, which was a number one hit for six weeks. Since then, Alicia has sold over 30 million albums. She has also become an actress and a record producer with her own studio. She plays the piano as well as singing on all her albums and she has written some great songs for other artists. She has performed in TV programmes and she made her first film, Smokin' Aces, in 2007. Her other films include The Nanny Diaries (2007) and The Secret Life of Bees (2008),' When did Alicia start writing songs? A In 1995 B In 1999 C At the Cosby Show D At the age of seven Answer: A Today, bicycles are elegantly simple machines that are common around the world. Many people ride bicycles for recreation, whereas others use them as a means of transportation. The first bicycle was invented in Germany in 1818. Because it was made of wood, it wasn't very strong nor did it have pedals .Riders moved it by pushing their feet against the ground. In 1839, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a Scottish blacksmith, invented a much better bicycle. Macmillan's machine had iron-covered wheels to keep them from getting worn down. He also used foot-operated levers, similar to pedals, so his bicycle could be ridden at a quick pace. It didn't look much like the modem bicycle, though, because its back wheel was substantially larger than its front wheel. Although Macmillan's bicycles could be ridden easily, they were never produced in large numbers. In 1861, Frenchman Pierre Michaux and his brother Ernest invented a bicycle with an improved pedal mechanism. They called their bicycle a velocipede,but most people called it a "bone shaker" because of the effect of the wood and iron frame. Despite the impolite nickname, the velocipede was a hit. After a few years, the Michaux family was making hundreds of the machines annually, mostly for fun-seeking young people. Ten years later, James Starley , an English inventor, made several innovations that revolutionized bicycle design. He made the front wheel many times larger than the back wheel, put a gear on the pedals to make the bicycle more efficient,and lightened the wheels by using wire spokes. Although this bicycle was much lighter and less tiring to ride, it was still clumsy, extremely top-heavy,and ridden mostly for entertainment. It wasn't until 1874 that the first truly modern bicycle appeared on the scene. Invented by another Englishman, H. J. Lawson, the safety bicycle would look familiar to today's cyclists. The safety bicycle had equal-sized wheels, which made it easier to ride. Lawson also attached a chain to the pedals to drive the back wheel. By 1893,the safety bicycle had been further improved with air-filled rubber tires, a diamond-shaped frame, and easy braking. With the improvements provided by Lawson;bicycles became extremely popular and useful for transportation. Today, they are built, used, and enjoyed all over the world. The information about bicycles in this passage is arranged according to _ . A importance B time C place D Interest Answer: B As you climb into the hill country, the roads get dustier and rougher, and fewer cars can be seen. Phonxay is one of the poorest districts of Laos, and many of its villages are only accessible by footpath. Our destination this hot morning is a concrete water tank that can be found just off the road. A UK organization helped to build it six years ago, and in the nearby village of Thapho, where clean drinking water is scarce, it has made a big difference. The tank feeds six taps which in turn give water to over 800 people---it has improved things for almost every family, from schoolchildren to grannies. But lately, we were told, the clean water supply has come under pressure from new arrivals, people who have come down from the hill areas, and there are concerns that there will not be enough clean water to go round. There are also serious worries about resources in Laos. The Chinese are building a 400km railway link, which could transform the landlocked country. About 150,000 Chinese workers will be involved. What will this do to local clean water supplies? How will the workers be fed? The vast majority of Laotians live on farms. But with foreign investors wanting to buy up land, local people will have to be moved to make room for them. Heavily dependent on both foreign aid and foreign investment, Laos still falls well behind its neighbours, although its economy has grown at about 6% a year in the last decade. Its biggest economic problem is the lack of locally trained skilled workforce. But there are reasons to be hopeful for the future. Laos is beautiful, and foreign tourism continues to grow: fortunately so far the fast-food chains and coffee bars common elsewhere are nowhere to be seen. Although all local media are government-run, the Internet is not controlled and the BBC and CNN are available to those with satellite dishes. The government has also achieved impressive results in rural development, with communities benefiting not just from cleaner water but the construction of new schools and regular visits from medical teams. Poverty will not be history in Laos within the next decade, but with small steps forward and a bit of outside help, the country could find itself out of the UN's least-developed category by 2020. What is the best title for the passage? A Laos: slow-developing nations B Laos: small steps forward C Laos: least-developed land D Laos: landlocked country Answer: B
6-Day Trek in the Highland National Parks Destinations: Saigon--Cat Tien National Park--Buon Ma Thuot--Lak Lake--YokDon National Park Estimated trekking time: Average 4-5 hours/day Summary: This trip is ideal for those who love trekking in natural forests. From the southern part of Vietnam up to the central highlands, you will cross through two national parks. There will be opportunities to see wildlife and challenge yourself physically at a moderate level. Indulge yourself in the beauty of nature, escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, rediscover yourself in the natural world and refresh both mind and body. Highlights: 1) Private tour 2) Walk through the forest to a fascinating and beautiful wetland area. If you are lucky, you may be able to see many different kinds of animals using only binoculars . 3) Night time wildlife-spotting excursion 4) Elephant riding Includes: 1) Travel insurance 2) Private transportation 3) English-speaking guide 4) Guest house-twin shared room 5) Meals as indicated in the itinerary 6) Elephants 7) Canoe 8) Mineral water 9) Entrance fees & all permits Excludes: 1) Surcharges for other guides in other languages, festival season and peak season surcharges, which will be advised at time of booking 2) Visa 3) Gong show (80 USD/show) 4) Tips 5) Personal expenses In the forest, tourists will be able to _ . A. ride elephants B. have barbeques with natives C. play with wild animals D. race in canoes Answer: A. ride elephants When I was a child, our dining room had two kinds of chairs--two large ones with arm rests and four small ones without. The larger ones stood at the ends of the table, the smaller ones on the sides. Mom and Dad sat in the big chairs, except when one of us was away; then Mom would sit in one of the smaller chairs. Dad always sat at the end, at the "head" of the table. Sitting where he did, Dad was framed by the window through which the yard could be seen with its trees and grass. His chair was not just a place for him at the table; it was a place in which he was situated against the yard and trees. It was the holy and protected place that was his, and ours through him. After Dad retired, he and Mom moved out into a small flat. When they came to visit me at their old house. Dad still sat at the end of the table though the table was no longer his but mine. Only with my marriage to Barbara, did I hear a voice questioning the arrangement. She requested, gently but firmly, that I sit at the head of the table in our home. I realized then that I was head of the family, but I also felt unwilling to introduce such a change. How would I feel sitting in that "head" place in my Dad's presence? And how would he handle it? I was to find out on the occasion of our youngest child's first birthday. Mom and Dad arrived for lunch, and went into the dining room. Dad moved toward his usual seat in front of the window. Before he could get around the side of the table, I took a deep breath and said, "Dad, this is going to be your place, next to Mom, on the side." He stopped, looked at me and then sat down. I felt sad, and angry at Barbara for pushing me to do this. It would have been easy to say, "My mistake, Dad. Sit where you always sit." But I didn't. When he and Mom were seated, Barbara and I took our places. I don't know how Dad felt. I do know that, though removed from his usual place, he continued to share his best self with us, telling stories of his childhood and youth to the delight of his grandchildren. As I served the food, our lives experienced a change, which we continue to live with. It wasn't easy, but I sense that there is also something good in the change which has occurred. I am beginning to learn that "honoring one's father" is more than the question of which place to occupy at the dining table. It also means listening, wherever we sit and whatever positions we own, to the stories Dad longs to tell. We may then, during these magical moments, even be able to forget about whose chair is whose. What did the writer learn about "honoring one's father"? A. Fathers always long to tell stories about their early years. B. Providing the fight chair is the only way to honor one's father. C. Respect for one's father doesn't depend only on where he sits. D. The family should dine together at the same table as often as possible. Answer: C. Respect for one's father doesn't depend only on where he sits. Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly _ happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia found. Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier. "We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn," said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity. "No matter how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not," Dunn said in a statement. Dunn's team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000. "Employees who devoted more of their bonus to prosocial spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus, and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself," they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science. They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it. "These findings suggest that very minor changes in spending allocations-as little as $5 may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day," Dunn said. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? A. Those who spend more money on others can get much more bonus. B. People usually think spending money on themselves will make them happier. C. Very small changes in spending your money may be enough to gain happiness. D. Researchers think that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn. Answer: A. Those who spend more money on others can get much more bonus. More and more people like bicycling and it is no surprise. It's fun, healthy and good for the environment. Maybe that's why there are 1.4 billion bicycles and only 400 million cars on roads worldwide today. Bikes can take you almost anywhere, and there is no oil cost! If you get on a bicycle and ride it, you may discover something new all around you. Stopping and getting off a bike is easier than stopping and getting out of your cars. You can bike to work and benefit from the enjoyable exercise without polluting the environment. You don't even have to ride all the way. Folding bikes work well for people who ride the train. Just fold the bike and take it with you. You can do the same on an airplane. A folding bike can be packed in a suitcase. You can also take a common bike with you when you fly. But be sure to look for information by getting on airline websites. Not all airlines are bicycle-friendly to travelers. Here are some of Health Benefits of Bicycling: 2 Bicycling helps to prevent heart diseases. 2 Bicycling helps to control your weight. A 15-minute bike ride to and from work three times a week burns off five kilos of fat in a year. 2 Bicycling can improve your mood. Exercise like bicycling has been shown to make people feel better, more relaxed and self-confident. 2 Bicycling is healthier than driving. When you are riding your bicycle around, you may _ . A. pollute the environment around B. find something you didn't notice C. go everywhere and use a little oil D. get off your bike and begin to work Answer: B. find something you didn't notice A man had a little dog, and he was very fond of it. He would pat its head, and take it on his knee, and talk to it. Then he would give it little bits of food from his own plate. A donkey looked in at the window and saw the man and the dog. "Why does he not make a pet of me?" said the donkey. "It is not fair. I work hard, and the dog only wags its tail, and barks, and jumps on its master's knee. It is not fair." Then the donkey said to himself, "If I do what the dog does, he may make a pet of me." So the donkey ran into the room. It brayed as loudly as it could. It wagged its tail so hard that it knocked over a jar on the table. Then it tried to jump on to its master's knee. The master thought the donkey was mad, and he shouted, "Help! Help!" Men came running in with sticks, and they beat the donkey till it ran out of the house, and they drove it back to the field. "I only did what the dog does," said the donkey," and yet they make a pet of the dog, and they beat me with sticks. It is not fair." The man liked the dog. He did a lot except _ . A. patting the dog's head B. sleeping with the dog C. talking to the dog D. taking the dog on his knee Answer: B. sleeping with the dog
We drink tea every day. But more than three hundred years ago most of the people in Europe did not know anything about tea. Some people heard about it, but very few of them know what to do with it. There is a story about an English sailor who went to countries in the east, the west and the south. He went to India and China. One day he came home and brought some tea as a present for his mother. She told her friends about the present and asked them to a "tea party". When her friends came to the "tea party", the old woman gave them brown tea-leaves. 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 did you do with the tea?" "I boiled 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. At the "tea party", _ . nobody knew what to do with the tea As we all know , the language is a very important tool for people to communicate with each other. In most of the languages , people usually begin their conversations by a kind of small talk -a casual form of conversation that "breaks the ice" or fills an awkward silence between people . That is to say , small talk means the little things we talk about to start a conversation . In English-speaking countries such as Britain, people often make small talk about the weather. " Nice day, isn't it?" "Terrible weather , isn't it?" However, we still have something special about small talk. It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable . People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At basketball matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching. "Great game , isn't it?" At train stations, people may talk about the transport system . " The train service is terrible, isn't it?" What is the favorite topic of small talk for English people ? the weather Practicing yoga is a helpful, popular way to keep fit. It has many followers around the world. There are many kinds of yoga. You may have heard of "hot yoga" before. Now, in India, a new kind of yoga, water yoga, is becoming more and more popular among the local people. In the city of Agra, people practice yoga in water. It is more difficult to practice yoga in water than on land. But practicing yoga in water can be good for your flexibility . Harish Chaturvedi, a lawyer, teaches people water yoga _ --even the poor people can learn from him. "Water yoga can become more popular than other kind of yoga, because the body does not get tired so quickly," he said. "Everybody can learn to swim, but if they learn yoga at the same time, they will never feel tired." "The level of Oxygen is very high in water, and you will not have any breathing problem," he added. Harish believes that water yoga really helps people to keep away from illness. He mainly trains children. He has classes at the swimming pool of a local sports room regularly. Many children are interested in it and come to team from him. "Harish is very good at performing yoga in water," said Sudhir Narayan, a water yoga student. "He is teaching children free of cost and that is a very good thing." What is Harish Chaturvedi? A lawyer. For any person who must speak in public, to business or pleasure groups, humor is a helpful, and necessary, tool for getting your message across. Why does humor work a lot? There are several reasons. People will enjoy what you have to say if it is presented with humor. But, more importantly, if you are in a situation where important, and perhaps controversial , ideas must be presented to less than open minds, humor allows those ideas to be presented in a non-threatening manner. Abraham Lincoln was famous for his ability to relate humorous stories to make a point. Humor used carefully throughout a presentation will also keep the listener's interest high. In a word, individuals learning how to use humor in their speeches can strengthen arguments, support interesting presentations and, most of all, entertain their audience in a positive and comfortable way. While popular culture may well hold many kinds of humor, some of it has no place in presentations that are designed to educate and encourage the audience. If you want to become a professional stand-up comedian whose goal is 100% entertainment, then you may be able to use some of the reference materials like The Art of Using Humor in Public Speaking. They can help you develop your skills and sources of humor. To that _ , your participation in this study of humor will become necessary. Hopefully, you will come to appreciate the special difficulty of entertaining the audience with good and clean humor. The passage is most likely to benefit _ a lot. public speakers Penguin Group Ordinary People Change The World! Penguin Group and TFK have partnered together to help teachers show their students how they can make the world a better place. Building the encouraging lives of historic figures including Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein, this attractive program takes a look at the real life stories of ordinary young people who grew up to become extraordinary adults! Download the classroom poster, student worksheets and teacher's guide provided below. Classroom Poster : You can be a Hero, too. Classroom Poster Teachers Guide : Ordinary People Series Teacher's Guide Student Worksheet : Who's Your Hero? Worksheet Student Worksheet : Hero Matchup Worksheet PGA Junior League Golf It Takes a Team! TIME For Kids and PGA Junior League Golf have developed a program all about using teamwork to reach goals. Download this poster to get your students involved in the power and fun of teamwork and cooperation. Encourage your class to go to timeforkids.com/teampoll and take the poll! Classroom Poster : It Takes a Team! International Fund for Animal Welfare(IFAW) Cats, Dogs, & Us TIME for Kids has partnered with IFAW to present an educational animal awareness program called Cats, Dogs, & Us. This project is sure to attract and engage students with discussion starters, in-class activity ideas, a video viewing guide, and many other in-depth and fun resources. Preview IFAW's Cats, Dogs, & Us video at http://ifaw.org/cats-dogs-and-us Classroom Poster : Cats, Dogs, & Us Classroom Poster Classroom Poster / Teachers Guide : Cats, Dogs, & Us Teachers Guide Full View Teachers Guide : Cats, Dogs, & Us Teachers Guide Pages Special Olympics Special Olympics Project UNIFY(r) in TIME and Special Olympics have teamed up to promote understanding of people's differences in the classroom, school and community. Special Olympics Project UNIFY(r) is an education-based project that uses sports and education programs to activate young people to develop communities where all youth are agents of change-promoting respect, dignity and support for people with mental disabilities. TFK Extra : in TIME Project UNIFY(r) Student Guide Teachers Guide : in TIME Project UNIFY(r) Teachers Guide Who are the materials mainly intended for? Teachers.
Reading is not the only way to gain knowledge of the work in the past. There is another large reservoir which may be called experience, and the college students will find that every craftsman has something he can teach and will generally teach gladly to any college student who does not look down upon them. The information from them differs from that in textbooks and papers chiefly in that its theoretical part -- the explanations of why things happen -- is frequently quite fantastic . But the demonstration and report of what happens, and how it happens are correct even if the reports are in completely unscientific terms. Presently the college students will learn, in this case also, what to accept and what to reject. One important thing for a college student to remember is that if Aristotle could talk to the fisherman, so can he. Another source of knowledge is the vast store of traditional practices handed down from father to son , or mother to daughter, of old country customs ,of folklore . All this is very difficult for a college student to examine, for much knowledge and personal experience is needed here to separate good plants from wild grass.The college students should learn to realize and remember how much of real value science has found in _ and how often scientific discoveries of what had existed in this area long age. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage? Answer: Have you ever dreamed about sending a letter to yourself or your friends in the future ? While express mail representing efficiency and speed is prevalent in China , there is another type of mail appearing as a new business : " Future Mail " . " Future Mail " service can make people slow down and let them understand the meaning of " time " in another way . And " Future Mail " letters are " reminders of affection , friendship and love ". Lin Xiaofan , a senior high school student in Hefei , wrote a letter to her mother in advance to express her love to her mother for next Mother's Day . Feng Xiao , a youth who feels pressure despite of some achievements in her career decided to write a letter to herself on her 25th birthday and have it delivered five years later on her 30th birthday through a " Future Mail " . She expressed her thoughts about her present life and her expectations for the future to encourage herself to face up to the challenges of her life with courage . While " Future Mail " is gaining popularity , some people are concerned about what happens if the postal address of the receiver changes or if the company goes broken before letters are delivered . Actually , customers required to complete an acceptance form and make an assessment so they can be _ if their letters or goods are lost or damaged . Most of the business's customers are college students and young white-collar workers . Psychologists said young Chinese might be given a vent to their negative feelings through the service . Most people put their hopes and wishes in the letters so they can experience the connection between " past " and " present " while they receive the letters . It can help people reunderstand the meaning of " time " . Which is NOT the purpose of Feng Xiao's letter ? Answer: Laughter Yoga is a unique technique invented by Dr Kataria, a doctor from India, by which you can learn to "Laugh for No Reason". You don't even need a sense of humor, no funny jokes or comedy programs -- just a willingness to laugh -- and in the present climate everyone needs to laugh more. Laughter Yoga is a combination of Laughter Exercises and Yogic Breathing, so that you increase the amount of oxygen in your body while being playful, resulting in you feeling healthier, energetic and alive. This actually changes the physical conditions of your body so that you start to feel happier. Laughter Yoga is generally done in groups although it can be practiced alone. When you make eye contact with someone and you're both willing to laugh, the laughter is increased. However, we do say that you can "Fake it, fake it till you make it" because the body doesn't know the difference between fake and true laughter; as long as you're willing to laugh you'll experience the same health benefits. Laughter Yoga started in a park in Mumbai in 1995 with just 5 participants, and now there're over 6,000 laughter clubs in 60 different countries -- showing the willingness of the world to laugh together. In the UK, Julie was one of the first people to train as a Laughter Leader with Dr Kataria in June 2002. In 2006 she was awarded Laughter Ambassador for her selfless service to promote Laughter Yoga. "Yoga has been part of my life for 30 years but 7 years ago my life changed when I discovered Laughter Yoga. I believe laughter and yoga are both good for your health," says Julie. The purpose of the passage is to _ . Answer: Four New Cool Inventions Mip Mip, a playful robot, was developed by a Canadian toy maker named Wowwee. It stands 19 cm tall. You can control it simply with your gestures or a smart phone. Mip can run, balance and dance on two wheels. It can also bring you a bottle of water. Android Wear Google is developing a smart watch called Android Wear. The watch uses a touchscreen and voice control. Simply say "OK, Google" to ask what ever you want to know. For example, say "OK, Google. Where's the nearest toy store?" Your answer will tell you the answer on Google Maps. Le Pen Do you like listening to music while doing homework? If you do, you will like Le Pen. With a music player planted inside, Le Pen plays music while you write on paper. The music stops when you stop writing. So if you want to enjoy more of your favorite songs, keep on writing. One wheel In the near future you may find a new way to escape traffic: a self-balancing skateboard called Onewheel. It can go as fast as 19km an hour. On a single charge , it can take you as far as 7-10km. Riding on One wheel, people can travel as far as _ . Answer: Ms. Bristol measured the mass of a closed beaker containing several ice cubes. The mass was 100 g. An hour later, after the ice cubes had melted, Ms. Bristol measured the mass of the beaker again. What was the mass of the beaker of water the second time? Answer:
It's always great to hear news about wildlife returning to where they once lived. For the first time in 8 years the small blue --- British's smallest butterfly--- has been seen back at a nature reserve in Hertfordshire. This nature reserve has had a lot of work done recently in order to help butterflies. Management of the land has included bringing in sheep to keep the grass under control in a more natural way and planting wild flowers for butterfly species. The nature reserve is home to a number of butterfly species. In fact the way that this reserve has been managed means that it is probably the best reserve in Hertfordshire to see butterflies with at least 25 species now living in the area. There are a number of threats to British butterflies and the greatest threat is the loss of their habitat. Changing farming practice has affected British native butterfly species greatly with many more now being at risk. _ A wide species of butterflies will generally mean a healthy environment. The type of land management at the nature reserve in Hertfordshire offers a hope for many species of butterfly to live as usual. Butterflies need all the help they can get at the moment. Although the number of butterflies is beginning to increase, many are still at risk. Why did the butterflies fly away eight years ago? Answer: A life coach is somebody who helps you reach all kinds of personal and professional goals . Each of us has the ability to be our own life coach. Here are some tips for you: Pay attention to your relationships with others. Ask yourself the following questions: What do you do with disagreements? When was the last time you showed your family members that you care for them? Your relationships with friends, family members and teachers show a lot about the kind of person you are. Face the fears about the future. Now, imagine that one of your good friends told you that he or she was not strong enough to go back to school. We often give better advice than we are willing to take ourselves. Remember that even the most successful people were probably told that what they wanted to do was impossible, but they followed their dreams and succeeded. Develop your talents. If you want to reach your goals, you will have to spend more time developing the talents you already have, and uncovering any hidden talents that you haven't discovered yet. So you can take classes in subjects that you are interested in, even if you have no experience. Be thankful . Take some time to be thankful for the things you do have. Remember positive memories. Think of the best day(s) you have had in the past month or year. Remember special parties, vacations and holidays. Be thankful to the wonderful people you have in your life. Which one is the best title of this passage? Answer: parents usually go to malls to find new school supplies for their children. One of the most important things to get during this time is the backpack. Most students choose to bring a backpack because it allows them to have both hands free. This makes the bag less likely to hinder other activities that the person carrying it may be doing at the same time. Here are the ways parents can choose the perfect backpack for school. How many books will children be carrying to school? How many notebooks should be inside the bag? Parents should know these details before buying a bag for their children. Each situation requires a different bag so it pays to ask children about the expected load. Do children need special storage for the bag? If they will be carrying a laptop computer inside the new backpack,make sure that parents get a model that's designed specifically for laptop use. This will protect the computer from bumps and falls that might damage the device if it had less protection. Are children going to use the bag for a long time? If they want to use a bag for a long time,parents will be better off investing in a good brand that is known for quality. Parents may have to pay extra cash to get the top of the line and the best backpack in the market.[:## Count the pockets. Backpacks usually come with a lot of pockets,and generally,the more pockets,the better. This allows children to organize their things,like pens and pencils inside small pockets. Picking the perfect school backpack is all about getting the sweet compromise between form,function and price. Remember to choose the best fit for children's needs.[:] Which of the following can we know from the text? Answer: Looking through a magazine in a waiting room recently, I came across an article with the title "My top five most precious possessions".It was just a few lines of text with pictures, but it caught my imagination. It's interesting how inanimate objects can take on such significance and become woven into a person's, and sometimes a whole family's life history. Anyway, the article had me considering what my most precious possessions are. It was difficult to choose only five, but here are mine: An old cardboard box filled with my children's baby photos. A yellow pocketsized birthday book of special things (poems, pictures of flowers and trees, etc) given to me by my dad when I was probably about seven or eight years old. A 21st Birthday card from my mum. In it she's written her congratulations, her love, and her hopes for my future. She died not long after, when I was in my early twenties. A few ancient but very beautiful botany books that were once my great grandmother's. She was a botanist in a time when it was ly unusual for women to be qualified in this field and I think she was probably a remarkable and very interesting woman. I'd like to have known her. A brooch left to me by my muchloved grandmother. It was given to my great grandmother (her mother) by my great grandfather on his return from World War I. It is not worth anything in terms of money. However, it not only stands for a link between four generations of women, but it is also a reminder of one young man's return from World War I. How about you? I'd love to hear what you feel are your most precious possessions. According to the passage, the writer _ . Answer: Englishmen speak British English and Americans speak American English. A student is learning to speak British English. He often asks himself, "Can Americans understand me when I speak British English?" Learners often ask "What's the difference between British English and American English?"Certainly there are some differences between British and American English. The Englishmen say "Have you a pen?" While Americans say "Do you have a pen?" The pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans often sound "r" in words like "bird" and "hurt". The British speakers don't sound the "r" in these words. There are differences in spelling. For example, "colour" and "neighbour" are British while "color" and "neighbor" are American. These differences in grammar, pronunciation and spelling are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language. When Englishmen and Americans are talking with each other, they don't need an interpreter . Maybe some day they need, but not now. 43. The differences between British and American English are not important because _ Answer:
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could do to help her 3-year-old son Michael prepare for it. She and her husband found out that the new baby was going to be a girl. Day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in his mom's tummy . Finally, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in a very serious condition. The doctor told the parents there was very little hope. They kept the baby girl in the intensive care unit (ICU, ). Karen was so sad. She decided to plan for her funeral . Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. "I want to sing to her," he would say. Finally Karen decided to take Michael to his sister. This may be the last time he sees her alive. Michael looked at his baby sister. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray." Instantly the baby girl seemed to _ . Her pulse rate began to calm down. "Keep on singing, Michael," encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away." As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's breath became smooth. After a few days, the little girl was well enough to go home. The doctors called it a miracle . ,. Why did Karen decide to take Michael to see the newborn baby? Millions of young people are writing blogs . Millions of others are reading them. The word "blog" is a short way of saying Web log. Many popular Web sites now offer free, easy ways to create personal Web pages and fill them with writings and pictures. Web sites called "Face book" and "My Space" are some of the most popular blog sites for young people. Blogs offer young people a place to show their writings and feelings. They can also be helpful to connect young people with others. But blogs can become dangerous when they are read on the Internet by millions of people all over the world. Recent studies show that young people often tell their names, age and where they live on the Internet. That may not be safe for them. This personal information puts them in danger when found out by dangerous people who want to hurt them. Students can also get into trouble when they put information about others on their blogs. As a result, many schools don't allow using blogging web sites on school computers. Many schools have also begun teaching parents about the web sites. Parents should know what their children are doing online and should read their blogs to make sure they are not giving out personal information. One way to keep away from these problems is to use programs so that blogs can be read by "friends only." people can read the website only if they know a secret word chosen by the blogger. According to the passage, many schools help children avoid blog problems by doing everything EXCEPT _ . Some people like to collect stamps. Others prefer posters or coins. But Pinky Bhutia is different. She collects children. In her mountain village, in Sikkim, she is known as the wonderful young woman who adopts all the children she can. Pinky was 14 when she adopted her first child, a Nepali baby girl, whose patents passed away. Pinky's parents did not mind. Pinky left school and started working full time because she had a baby to feed. Today , she has twelve adopted children, and two sons from her marriage. Pinky is about 30 years old and she comes from a common family. If you passed her on the street, you wouldn't give her a second look. She lives in a brown mud-washed house. There is a vegetable garden outside. Red hens with noisy chicks run all over the garden looking for food. If you ask her why she provides a home to so many kids, she smiles shyly. But her eyes are serious. "I know what it is to be poor and hungry." As a child, her only dream was to eat a full meal, and her favorite amusement was watching people with shoes and imagining what it felt like. By adopting poor and homeless children she is making sure that they never feel that hopeless. Pinky feels very proud when she sees her children happy and bright, Her oldest baby, Aarita Rai, is now 20 years old, Then, there is 19-year-old Nimbe who came to Pinky because her mother was unable to look after her. She started to work in a government office two years ago. Ten-year-old Bhim and 14-year-old Kumar came to Pinky five years ago, after their father's death. They started living on a patch of land given by Pinky and grew vegetables for sale. "I like children. It's not one more mouth to feed but one more soul saved," Pinky says. By adopting those poor and homeless children, Pinky wants to _ . The Hunan Satellite TV(HNTV) show "Where are we going, Dad?" is a big hit. Many famous stars brought their children to a strange village alone, and they had to spend 72 hours with their children there. The program fully showed us a modern version of the "how to be a good father". As the young parents today are too busy to take care of their children, this new form of "Lost on the way" played by nanny Daddy and cute kids triggered a lot of people's emotional resonance . Both the kids and their parents will find that their hearts are being drawn closer. But this kind of feeling has just proved that there is a big spiritual barrier between the modern parents and children. The TV shows like "Children are hard to support!", "Where are we going, Dad?", "hot mom" and "cute kids" are becoming more and more popular. All of these show the new parents' confusion in children's education and the appeal for the balance between career and family. In real life, on the one hand the young parents feel helpless because they are too busy to accompany their children under the pressures of work and life; on the other hand they continue to do so. The data collected by HNTV shows that nearly two-thirds of their audience are female, among whom 36% are aged from 25 to 34. We can imagine such a scene that one evening a young mother is watching the show with her young children, while her husband is still at work or trapped in socializing, or maybe is just playing computer games in the bedroom. The story of a child without the company of father is still going on. In fact, it is sometimes the same to mothers. In a modern family, it is often the old who take the responsibility of raising a child. The participation of mother in the children's education is also very low. It is just this kind of confusion where the parents have gone in the modern family education, and where the parents will guide their children to go that "Where are we going,Dad?" shows us. If a child wants to grow up healthily and safely into a modern citizen with independent personality and free spirit, it is very important for him or her to follow the parents who serve as their first teacher. Maybe this is the real reason why such kind of TV programs could get hot. The truth is that children will go where their parents go; and society will go where the children go. Which one is the best title of the passage? Maybe you are an average student. You probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so. Anyone can become a good student if he or she wants to. Here's how you can be a good student. Plan your time carefully. When planning your week, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list, you should make a plan of your time. First, your time for eating, sleeping, dressing... Then decide a good, regular time for studying. Don't forget to set enough time for entertainment. A weekly plan may not work out all your problems, but it will push you to realize what is happening to your time. Find a good place to study. Look around the house for a good study place. Keep this space which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room, free of everything but study materials. No game, radio, or TV! When you sit down to study, concentrate on your subjects. Make good use of your time. Listen to everything the teacher says. Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says. Study regularly. When you get home from school, go over your notes. Review the important points that your teacher has mentioned in class. If you know what your teacher is going to discuss the next day, read that material. This will help you understand the next class. If you do these things regularly, the material will become more meaningful, and you will remember it longer. Develop a good attitude to tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. It helps you remember your new knowledge. The world won't end if you don't pass a test, so don't be worried. There are other ideas that might help you with your study. You will probably find many others after you have tried these. What should you keep on your desk in order to concentrate on your subjects?
Losing weight comes with a lot of health benefits--including making your brain sharper. Yes, it turns out that overweight may damage cognitive functions such as memory and attention. There have been few studies of overweight and cognitive functioning, possibly because it is generally believed that it is not a primary risk cause for poor cognitive performance. Losing weight, therefore, may help improve these mental functions, according to a new research led by John Gunstad, assistant professor of psychology at Kent State University. Growing evidence suggests that being fat is linked to cognitive deficits . So Gunstad and his team guessed that losing weight might improve mental function. For their study, they measured memory and attention in a group of 150 overweight participants, some of whom had some kind of operation for weight loss and some did not. All of the volunteers completed mental skills tests to assess their abilities of memory and attention at the beginning of the study, and again 12 weeks later. To begin with, about 24% of the patients showed damaged learning and 23% showed signs of poor memory when tested. At the end of the study, those who had lost weight after operation improved their scores into the average or above average range for cognitive functions. Scores for the volunteers who didn't lose weight dropped even further. The study helped Gunstad to find out whether losing weight had any effect on mental function. Now that he's seen the positive effect that weight loss can have on memory and attention, he says he will next study those who choose to lose weight by the traditional way--eating healthier and getting more active. He expects that losing weight in this way will have a similarly positive effect on the brain. "If we can improve the condition with operations, then we can probably produce the same change with behavioral weight loss as well," he says. What is Gunstad planning to prove next in his research? A. Slim people are smarter than overweight people. B. Healthy diet is better than exercise in losing weight. C. Traditional ways of losing weight are better than operation. D. Overweight people will get smarter by taking more exercise. Answer: D Attractions in Wisconsinks5u Wisconsin Historical Museum 30 N. Carroll Street on Madison's Capitol Square Discover Wisconsin's history and culture on four floors of exhibits. Open for public programs. Admission is free. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (608)264-6555 www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum Swiss Historical Village 612 Seventh Ave, New Glarus The Swiss Historical Village offers a delightful look at pioneer life in America's heartland. 14 buildings in the village give a full picture of everyday life in the nineteenth-century Midwest. Tue. - Fri., May 1st- Oct. 31st, 10:a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Admission is$20. (608)527-2317 www.swisshistoricalvillage.com Artisan Gallery & Greamery Cafe 6858 Paoli Rd, Paoli, WI One of the largest collections of fine arts and crafts in Wisconsin. Over 5,000 sq. ft. of exhibiton space in a historical creamery. While visiting enjoy a wonderfully prepared lunch at our cafe overlooking the Sugar River. Just minutes from Madison! Galleriy open Tue. - Sun., 10:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m. Cafe open Wed. - Sat., 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Sun. brunch with wine, 10:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m. (608)845-6600 www.artisangal.com Christopher Columbus Museum 239 Whitney St. Columbus World-class exhibit - 2000 quality souvenirs marking Chicago's 1893 World Columbus Exhibition. Tour buses are always welcome. Open daily, 8:15 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (920)623-1992 www.columbusantiquemall.com We can learn from the text that _ . A. Swiss Historical Village is open for half a year. B. Christopher Columbus Museum overlooks a river. C. Tickets are needed for Wisconsin Historical Museum. D. Artisan Gallery & Greamery Cafe are open daily for 4 hours. Answer: A Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 5, 1821, on the island of St. Helena off the coast of Africa. He was 51 years old at the time. When doctors examined Napoleon's body, they said that the former emperor of France had died from cancer of the stomach. That was the cause of death recorded in the official report. However, other doctors disagreed. One doctor who was present during the examination of the body said that Napoleon died of hepatitis. Other historians and medical experts have suggested that Napoleon died of syphilis, tuberculosis, or perhaps malaria. Now, after careful research, a British chemist thinks that Napoleon might have been poisoned -- not by a person, but by his wallpaper. Napoleon was sent to the island of St. Helena in 1815 after he lost the battle of Waterloo. He was a prisoner on the island. Although he had servants to attend to him, he had to live in one small building. St. Helena is a very wet island, so the walls of the building were always covered with mold. Napoleon became ill from spending too much time inside his house. Almost constantly he had a fever, chills, and felt sick to his stomach. He often felt pain in his shoulders and in his side. His skin turned yellow. He got frequent headaches, and he would become dizzy and vomit . None of the medicine that the doctors gave Napoleon seemed to help. They were not sure what was the matter. Finally, Napoleon was too weak to leave the house. One night, while he was sleeping, he went into a coma and died. Many doctors who later reviewed the reports of Napoleon's illness found that the symptoms did not show a man who suffered from stomach cancer. It seemed obvious that Napoleon had died from some other cause. In 1961, a Swedish doctor examined some of Napoleon's hair and found a high level of arsenic, a chemical poison. Was Napoleon murdered? It is doubtful. Arsenic was used in many types of medicine during Napoleon's time, so he might have taken the arsenic as a cure for his illness. Then, in 1982, Dr. David Jones from England began to look into the mystery and suggested that Napoleon might have breathed in arsenic which was in the air of his house. In the 1700s and 1800s, arsenic was used to make a kind of green paint used on cloth and wallpaper. If the paint was used on a wet wall, the arsenic would go into the air. A person in the room might breathe that air. After studying the wallpaper in the room where Napoleon died, Dr. Jones found high levels of arsenic in the green paint on the walls. Why did Napoleon live on St. Helena? A. He owned the island. B. He was a prisoner there. C. His family lived there. D. He liked the island. Answer: B Adam's car sustained moderate damage in a collision with a car driven by Basher. The accident was caused solely by Basher's negligence. Adam's car was still drivable after the accident. Examining the car the next morning, Adam could see that a rear fender had to be replaced. He also noticed that gasoline had dripped onto the garage floor. The collision had caused a small leak in the gasoline tank. Adam then took the car to Mechanic, who owns and operates a body shop, and arranged with Mechanic to repair the damage. During their discussion Adam neglected to mention the gasoline leakage. Thereafter, while Mechanic was loosening some of the damaged material with a hammer, he caused a spark, igniting vapor and gasoline that had leaked from the fuel tank. Mechanic was severely burned. Mechanic has brought an action to recover damages against Adam and Basher. The jurisdiction has adopted a pure comparative negligence rule in place of the traditional common-law rule of contributory negligence. In this action, will Mechanic obtain a judgment against Basher? A. No, unless there is evidence that Basher was aware of the gasoline leak. B. No, if Mechanic would not have been harmed had Adam warned him about the gasoline leak. C. Yes, unless Mechanic was negligent in not discovering the gasoline leak himself. D. Yes, if Mechanic's injury was a proximate consequence of Basher's negligent driving. Answer: D Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California's Santa Freeway.It was an hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home.I couldn't reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus.Not knowing the routes, I thought I should just go east. A bus stopped.I got on and asked the driver how far she was going."Ten more miles,"she said.There was another bus I could take from here.This clearly was going to be a long night. I got off at the end of the route and she told me which bus to look for.After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home.Then a bus came up.There was no light number above its windshield .It was out of service, but the door opened.It was the same driver."I just can't leave you here,"she said."This isn't the nicest place.I will give you a ride home." "You will drive me home on the bus?"I asked, astonished. "No, I will take you in my car, "she said. "It's a long way, "I insisted. "Come on, " she said."I have nothing else to do." As we drove from, the station in the car, she began telling me a story.A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas.A good man picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car."I'm just passing the favour on,"she said. When I offered her money as a thank-you, she wouldn't accept."Just do something nice for somebody.Pass it on."she said. The bus driver drove the writer home later because _ . A. she happened to go in the same direction B. she wanted to do something good for other people C. her brother told her to do so D. she wanted to earn more money Answer: B
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days: Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June. Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Ann Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, had started the idea to have a day to honor mothers. She was the one who chose the second Sunday in May and also began the custom of wearing a carnation. In 1909, Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea of a day to honor fathers. She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart. After her mother died, he had the responsibility of raising a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1910, the first Father's Day was observed in Spokane. Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to establish Father's Day as a national commemorative day, in 1972. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead.Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories. The author's purpose of writing this passage is to _ Answer: House For Sale Red Rose Garden, Pudong 3-storey home. 509 sqm total land area. 428.8 sqm built-in. 312.9 sqm garden. Asking for RMB 13 million. MP: 13761973547 Tel: 021-58609228 Fax: 021-58609728 Job Wanted Cherry, 24, a shining girl, good at oral English and Putonghua. Now I am working at an international trade company in Guangzhou. I am kind-hearted, hard-working and healthy, and would like part-time weekend work offering Putonghua lessons to foreign friends. If you are interested, please email me at cherrylf@hotmail. com. Beijing Snow World Ski Park Price: 18 yuan (Ticket). 50 yuan/hour on weekdays and 70 yuan/hour on weekends. 120 yuan/four hours on weekdays and 190 yuan/four hours on weekends. If he goes skiing on _ in Beijing Snow World Ski Park, Nick has to pay more money than on Tuesday. Answer: You cannot go without a pencil when writing or drawing something. You have probably noticed letters H and B printed on your pencils.What,for example,do HB,2H or 3H mean? Those are letters showing the hardness of the lead or graphite in a pencil.H refers to hard lead.The bigger the Arabic number before the letter H,the harder the lead,and the lighter will be the colour. The hardest pencil has 6H on it.Such pencils are often used in making engineering drawings.People seldom write with them.B stands for soft lead.The bigger the number before the letter B,the softer the lead,and the darker will be the colour, the softest being the 6B pencil.Such pencils are favoured by artists. The HB pencil has a lead core that is neither too soft nor too hard.Its colour is medium in its blackness.It is most suitable for ordinary writing and drawing. A4B pencil is _ than a 3B one. Answer: Music Opera at Music Hall: 1243 Elm Street. The season runs June through August, with additional performances in March and September. The Opera honors Enjoy the Arts membership discounts. Phone: 241-2742. http://www.cityopera.com. Chamber Orchestra: The Orchestra plays at Memorial Hall at 1406 Elm Street, which offers several concerts from March through June. Call 723-1182 for more information. _ . Symphony Orchestra: At Music Hall and Riverbend. For ticket sales, call 381-3300. Regular season runs September through May at Music Hall in summer at Riverbend. http://www.symphony.org/home.asp. College Conservatory of Music (CCM): Performances are on the main campus of the university, usually at Patricia Cobbett Theater. CCM organizes a variety of events, including performances by the well-known LaSalle Quartet, CCM's Philharmonic Orchestra, and various groups of musicians presenting Baroque through modern music. Students with I.D. cards can attend the events for free. A free schedule of events for each term is available by calling the box office at 556-4183. http://www.ccm.uc.edu/events/calendar. Riverbend Music Theater: 6295 Kellogg Ave. Large outdoor theater with the closest seats under cover (price difference).Big name shows all summer long! Phone:232-6220. _ . Where can students go for free performances with their I.D. cards? Answer: On Easter Day, 1722, Dutch explorers landed on Easter Island . It was the first time that Easter Islanders had met people from the outside world. The strangers were about to discover something very strange themselves --that they were on an island with hundreds of huge stone statues . The Dutch explorers wondered where the Islanders had come from and why and how they had built the statues. Now science is putting together the story. The first people to arrive on the island came there around A.D. 700. The society that developed there was based on fishing and farming to feed the population, which grew to 12,000. Its success showed itself in a way that has become the island's trademark : hundreds of huge stone figures --the moai. None of the moai was standing when scientists first arrived. People put them back up later; but how had a Stone Age society ever made, moved and set them up there in the first place? And why? There are nearly 900 moai on Easter Island, and while the questions about them remain unanswered, no one doubts the years of effort that must have gone into making them. The real killer of the Easter Islanders came from across the ocean. After 1722, it became popular for explorers to visit Easter Island, bringing diseases. The final blow came in 1862, when slave traders came from Peru and took away 1,500 people, one-third of the population. Before the Dutch explorers arrived on Easter Island, _ . Answer:
Kendra and Quinton travel to and from school every day. Kendra lives further from the bus stop than Quinton does, stops every morning at Quinton's house to join him to walk to the bus stop. Every afternoon, after school, when walking home from the bus stop they go in for cookies and milk that Quinton's mother has ready and waiting for them. Quinton can't eat cheese or cake so they had the same snack every day. They both work together on their homework and when they are done they play together. Kendra always makes sure to leave in time to get home for dinner. She doesn't want to miss story time which was right before bedtime. One morning Kendra walked up to Quinton's house, she thought something might be wrong because normally Quinton was waiting outside for her and on this morning he was not to be found. Kendra went up to the door and knocked. She waited and waited and yet no one answered. She saw that Quinton's mother's car wasn't in their driveway which was weird. She waited for a few bit looking up and down the block and getting worried when Quinton was nowhere to be found. Kendra didn't want to miss the bus to school and hurried off to make it in time. The bus driver saw that she was upset and that Quinton was not with her that morning. She told him what happened and he said that he was sure that everything would be okay. Kendra got to school, ran to her teacher and told him what happened that morning. The teacher smiled and told her not to worry, Quinton's mother had called and he was going to the dentist and would be at school after lunch and that she would see him at the bus stop like normal tomorrow. When is Quinton going to be back at school? Answer: When a tornado hit the small town of Otwell, Indiana years ago, Kathryn Martin, 32, who lived 60 miles away in Evansville, couldn't get the news out of her mind. "I kept thinking, 'Those poor people. Somebody's got to help them,'" she says. She knew firsthand what they were going through. Six months earlier, a tornado had struck her town, taking the lives of her 2-year-old son, C.J. and her mother-in-law. "It was the most terrible experience of my life," she says. "That _ will never go away, and it broke my heart to think about what these families were going through in Otwell." So Kathryn loaded her car with juice boxes, snacks and toys and drove to Otwell. She gave the items to the Red Cross, and as she was leaving, she saw a couple sorting through the ruins of their home while their children were watching. So Kathryn stopped and gave a few toys to the kids and played with them for a while. "The parents couldn't thank me enough for what I did for their children," she says. On the drive back to Evansville, Kathryn came up with an idea to help more kids. She talked her family, friends and neighbors into joining her and spent the next few months organizing fundraisers. Finally, in August 2007, she showed C.J.'s Bus, a 35-foot school bus that was turned into a mobile playroom. In the following years, stocked with video games and DVDs, toys, crafts, books and more, the bus traveled to disaster-torn towns, giving the children there a safe place to play. So far, C.J.'s bus has traveled to three states affected by tornadoes or floods, cheering up more than 756 children, aged 3-13. What do we know about C.J.'s Bus? Answer: "Community" is not a concept that is easy to define . In this essay I will examine what turns individuals into a community, and discuss some different types. I will also look at what all communities have in common, the benefits they offer and draw conclusions about their increasing importance. The word "community" may make you think of traditional communities in the developing world, where large families live together. We may also imagine the neighbours as people who are happy to help out whenever it is needed. The stereotypical view is that of a village, where people have little but can feel very rich because everyone takes responsibility for the welfare of the others. On the other hand, there are other types of communities: ultramodern ones, where the community members are unlikely to have actually met each other. These are online communities, where people blog or chat about particular issues that are important to them. They come across others on websites and may develop a relationship there with like-minded people, discussing the same topics. The view is often that these are artificial connections between people who are, in fact, still isolated strangers. In reality, the connections are real. Moreover, there are many types of communities in between these extremes: people who join clubs, who sign up with voluntary, political or other organizations, or who take part in group discussions in their local area. They may be campaigning about issues or simply getting together for companionship and support. Human beings are social by nature, so it should not be a surprise that we organize ourselves in groups. However, there is more going on: these groups provide something that we cannot achieve on our own. The main benefit of being part of a larger group is strength in numbers. For example, we can access and share more information, we can take part in team sports, we can complain and campaign more effectively and even if we are just having a chat, online or in person, we can feel supported in whatever we do. Whatever forms communities take, what defines them is the sense of identity and safety that they provide for their members: the knowledge that there are people who we have something in common with and who can be relied on when we need each other. In traditional communities, people _ . Answer: Phoenix , Arizona, the USA was shaken by a big sandstorm recently. It was a huge dust storm that struck Phoenix a little after 7:00 pm local time. Arizona has sandstorms particularly during the monsoon( )season which usually starts from mid-June until the end of September. However, this was so far the biggest. The cloud of dust turned day into night. Some trees were downed, gardens were destroyed and it knocked out power for thousands of local people along the area, but luckily no death happened. A number of the people's pools became dirty with dust. People who lived in Phoenix for more than 40 years said that this was the first time they had experienced this huge dust storm. It could greatly influence people's health. The big dust cloud started in Tucson traveling north across the desert. The huge storm ran up to 60 miles per hour. It was more than 100 miles wide and a mile high. Besides Phoenix and near cities ,the storm also reached Yuma area in southwestern and far western Arizona. It reduced the visibility ( ) in these areas, putting off the flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The storm only takes place in Arizona, the Sahara Desert and areas of the Middle East, because of the dry environment and large amounts of sand. Because of the serious shortage of rain, a wall of there's a large possibility that the water is polluted because of the storm. Sandstorms take place in Arizona as a result of _ . Answer: Last summer Jenny and her friends had a bus trip to New York. She felt very relaxed on the way. They visited a museum. But it was really crowded there and the display was not interesting at all. They went to different restaurants to have dinner. Some food was quite delicious, but Jenny thought the fast food was awful. When the weather was fine, they went to the beach to swim. The sea was beautiful, and they had a good time. They visited _ . Answer:
Expert say that students usually need eight to ten hours' sleep at night, but most Chinese students do not get enough sleep. Some Chinese parents are usually glad to see their children studying late. They will think their children work very hard, but not all parents are happy about this. Once a mother told us tat every morning her 10-year-old boy put up one finger with his eyes still closed, begging for one more minute to sleep. Like thousands of students " early birds" in China, he has to get up before six every morning. A report shows that without a good night's sleep, students seem to be weaker than they should be. Many students have fallen asleep during class at one time or another. Too much homework is not the only reason why students stay up late. Some watch TV or play the computer games late into the night. Experts have ever said that the students should develop good study habits. So some clever students never study last, they are able to work well in class. In this passage we know if students don't get enough sleep, they may _ not work well in class Brown suffered from the delusion that he was a special agent of God. He frequently experienced hallucinations in the form of hearing divine commands. Brown believed God told him several times that the local Roman Catholic bishop was corrupting the diocese into heresy, and that the bishop should be "done away with." Brown, a devout Catholic, conceived of himself as a religious martyr. He knew that shooting bishops for heresy is against the criminal law. He nevertheless carefully planned how he might kill the bishop. One evening Brown shot the bishop, who was then taken to the hospital where he died two weeks later. Brown told the police he assumed the institutions of society would support the ecclesiastical hierarchy and he expected to be persecuted for his God-inspired actions. Psychiatrist Stevens examined Brown and found that Brown suffered from schizophrenic psychosis, that in the absence of this psychosis, he would not have shot the bishop, and that because of the psychosis, Brown found it extremely difficult to determine whether he should obey the specific command that he do away with the bishop or the general commandment "Thou shalt not kill." Brown was charged with murder. If Brown interposes an insanity defense and the jurisdiction in which he is tried has adopted only the M'Naghten test of insanity, then the strongest argument for the defense under that test is that Brown did not know that his act was morally wrong IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer, and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs.Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman.As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community.When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades.Naturally he used it to start up a business--IKEA. IKEA's name comes from Kamprad's initials (I.K.) and the place where he grew up ('E'and 'A').Today IKEA is known for its modern, minimalist furniture, but it was not a furniture company in the beginning.Rather, IKEA sold all kinds of miscellaneous goods. Kamprad's wares included anything that he could sell for profits at discounted prices, including watches, pens and stockings. IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order catalogue in 1947.The furniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad's home.Initial sales were very encouraging, so Kamprad expanded the product line.Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became solely a furniture company in 1951. In 1953 IKEA opened its first showroom in Almhult, Sweden.IKEA is known today for its spacious stores with furniture in attractive settings, but in the early1950s, people ordered from catalogues.Thus response to the first showroom was overwhelming: people loved being able to see and try the furniture before buying it.This led to increased sales and the company continued to thrive.By 1955, IKEA was designing all its own furniture. In 1956 Kamprad saw a man disassembling a table to make it easier to transport.Kamprad was inspired.The man had given him a great idea: flat packaging.Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers.IKEA tried it and sales soared.The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA.Nowadays, IKEA is often seen as having connotations of self-sufficiency.This image has done wonders for the company, leading to better sales and continued expansion. Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries.Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company.In 2004 he was named the world's richest man.He currently lives in Switzerland and is retired from the day-to-day operations of IKEA.IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing. The passage is developed primarily in terms of _ . order of events It has been two years since China Daily last interviewed 31-year-old Zhang Chao.The micrograph enthusiast still wears the same hair style, even the same coat. But one thing is very different: He's become a celebrity in cyberspace almost overnight, after his pictures, which show what the smog in Beijing looks like under his microscope, spread like a virus on China's major micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, since he posted them last Friday.Now the media is always interviewing him. Zhang's apartment is on the eighth floor, which he says is perfect for capturing the thickest levels of smog. As a Beijing native, Zhang explains his original purpose is to _ and expose its mystery." People have higher and higher standards for the environment," he says," When I was a child, I was annoyed by the frequent sandstorms, so I feel Beijing's air seems much better now all in all because there are hardly any sandstorms in recent years.Now, we've noticed PM2.5, which has long been neglected." Although he graduated as a science major from Beijing Normal University, Zhang says it is difficult for him to give an exact definition of what smog is in Beijing. Under his scope, which magnifies the sample 1,000 times, the smog is found to contain minerals, fragments of animal fur and insects, seeds and burnt dust.But many are compounds, he says, which are more difficult to identify. Zhang realizes that he may have disappointed the public because he can't show the inner construction of PM2.5 , today's most notorious(.) element in smog. It is beyond the capacity of his microscope and camera to explore such tiny grains, " You cannot imagine how splendid the micro world is" ! says Zhang Chao. From the passage we can infer that _ . Zhang Chao is interested in the micro world very much He was just 12 years old when he died. But he brought courage and hope to people around the world. Nkosi Johnson, who died last June, is remembered today as an AIDS fighter. This young boy challenged his government's AIDS policies and millions of South Africans in the fight against the disease. Johnson was the longest survivor born HIV positive .He survived with this deadly disease for 12 years before it _ . At first, Johnson was expected to live for nine months when his foster mother , Gail Johnson took him in at the age of two. She now runs Nkosi's Haven across town from her house in Melville. The Haven is home to 20 children living with HIV or AIDS, and 11 of their mothers. Johnson attracted the world's attention and stole the hearts of thousands of people across the world at the 13thInternational AIDS Conference inprefix = st1 /Durbanin July 2000. He stood in front of a large audience including South African President Thabo Mbeki. He told them that he wanted AZT, a drug used to treat AIDS patients, to be given to HIV-positive pregnant women to prevent the disease being passed on to their unborn babies. He received a loud cheer at the end of his speech. Johnson's speech was broadcast live across the world. With views beyond his age and even a sense of humor, Johnson soon became an international sign of the fight against AIDS and HIV. The best title for this passage is _ . A Hero inSouth Africa
In promising to fuse media as diverse as television, telephone communication, video games, music and data transmission, the era of digital convergence goes better than yesterday's celebrated "information superhighway." Yet achieving this single technology is far from straightforward. There are currently three major television broadcast standards, and they are all incompatible with each other. But this is nothing compared to the many technologies supporting the Internet, each with a different bandwidth and physical media. The problems faced in designing platforms and communication systems that will be accepted across the world can appear insuperable. Even once global standards are assured, however, a further obstacle lies in wait. The Internet is plagued by long, erratic (,) response times because it is a pull-technology, driven by patterns of user demands. Push-technology, on the other hand, reverses the relationship: servers simply send information to passive users, as in television and radio. But if some form of combination between one-way television flow and interactive Internet is to be the basis of our future media, it is hard to see how it could be operated. Moreover, the problem of fusing Internet with television is also one of defining the services offered. Information, entertainment and relaxation appear at first to be quite different needs. Serious doubts remain over whether consumers will be interested in having to make the sort of mental effort associated with computing while also settling down in front of a sitcom . Besides the issue of consumer habits, infrastructurecosts are set to be immense, and will have to be met by national states or the private sector before being passed on to users. Platforms do not necessarily have to be expensive. The mobile phone is a good example of how something that is technologically sophisticated can almost be given away, with its cost recovered through service charges. Users are then coercedthrough clever marketing to upgrade to newer phones with more features to reinforce their dependence. Whatever the outcome, it is obvious that technology will play an increasing part in our everyday lives. Beyond technology, digital convergence embraces the services, industrial practices and social behavior that form modern society. We have in our hands the technology to construct the most sophisticated machines ever built, but if they are unusable, simply because of their operating instructions, then recent lessons have taught us they will not survive. Whatever we design must be simple, reliable and useful. Perhaps this is where artificial intelligence will come in. What is pull technology? A. It is the Internet system affected by long, uncertain response times. B. It is the way of business operation driven by user demands. C. It is the technology to send information to passive users. D. It is a way to blend one-way television with interactive Internet. Answer: B. It is the way of business operation driven by user demands. "Beauty is only skin deep." This expression means that beauty is only a temporary surface quality. Some beauty products can cause lasting damage that goes far below the surface of the skin. In America,many people use sunlight and non-natural light to darken their skin. Health experts advise against what is called"tanning"because of its links to akin cancer. In the African country of Senegal ,some women take health risks trying to do just the opposite. An average beauty supply shop in Dakar has many kinds of skin-lightening creams and soaps. The World Health Organization says that 25%of Senegalese women use skin-lightening production a usual basis. These products can contain chemicals,like mercury ,hydroquinone ,etc. These are dangerous ingredients that can cause cancer and possibly other physical damage to the akin. They can actually burn the eyes and skin. Shop worker Adama Diagne advises her visitors to avoid the stronger products that promise fast results. She users a cream that is made from carrots,not the strong chemical,hydroquinone. She says that it is a personal choice and that no one pressures her. Some women want to be black every day,but for her,she likes to be a shade of brown. Women in Senegal say they lighten their skin for the same reason that women all over the world make changes to their appearance. They say they want to look beautiful,to find a husband, to stand out in a crowd or simply to look great for a special event. This thinking troubles Senegalese film-maker Khardiata Pouye Sall. So,she made"This Color That Bothers Me",a film about the subject of skin lightening. She said,"I used the most shocking images so that women would see the dangers. It is hard to understand why a woman says that dark skin is not beautiful. It is in their heads. They want to please a man,to he loved or they want to please society,to succeed." Ms. Sall says that the government needs to better control the marketing and the sale of skin-lightening products. But she adds that education is the best way to persuade people against using them. We can infer that women in Senegal _ . A. attract attention with shockingimages B. don't consider dark skin to be beautiful C. find it hard to understand the true beauty D. put beauty in the first place in their heads Answer: B. don't consider dark skin to be beautiful You put a great deal of effort into reaching the college of your choice. It' s time to get started. But what' s next? Beginning college can be an exciting but awkward time. Follow these tips to adjust to your new life rapidly and make the most of your college experience. * To save time and money, use the college' s bus system. Taking the bus to school is quick, easy and free in most college towns. You won' t have to locate or afford a place to park either. It' s also a good way to be environmentally aware. * Save pennies on books by waiting until class starts. You might not even need all of the recommended books. New textbooks cost an arm and a leg. Try buying used textbooks -- it' s a surefire way to save money and serves the purpose as well. * Do never look at college life as an endless series of parties and social activities. But there is a whole lot more to college if you're serious about graduating. Having a good college experience is all about balancing work and fun. * Be mindful of your diet. Make healthy food choices and watch what you eat. Avoid foods that are processed or high in sugar. The "freshman 15"is real. Many college students gain at least 15 pounds during their freshmen year. * While electives can be helpful when figuring out your major, you shouldn't entirely rely on them. Clubs and other organizations exist around. Get involved. Make sure, though, that you still have time to study. Having too much on your plate can hurt your grades. The "freshman 15"tells the fact that some freshmen _ . A. take relaxed attitudes to their diets B. have little regular physical exercise C. focus less on their academic work D. attend limited activities on campus Answer: A. take relaxed attitudes to their diets I was going to die in Antarctica, I was certain.An image of my frost-covered body, pale and lifeless, filled my mind as I glanced around.In all directions the empty wilderness of Antarctica stretched away from me, the only feature on the landscape was the division between snow and sky.I gazed sadly at my team.They were rapidly disappearing over the horizon. I was leading an expedition attempting to reach the south pole.The team was made up of ordinary women from all around the world, from Jamaica, India, Singapore and Cyprus, many of whom had never seen snow, or spent a night in a tent before we set off.Our aim was to be the most international all-female team to reach the South Pole. As I watched, the rest of the team marched on, unaware that I was not with them.By the time I realized that my sledge was firmly trapped, the team were already a long way ahead of me.I called out to Era, my teammate, " Era! Stop !" Getting no response I called again, but my shouts were carried away in the opposite direction by the wind.Seconds passed.Nothing.I was gradually being left alone, completely defenseless against the low temperatures of Antarctica. My strength increased when I thought of a cold lonely death.I pulled again my sledge, which moved a little. I removed the ice with my ski-pole and boot, desperately trying to break the sledge free.The sledge shot forward, knocking me off balance.I struggled to my feet and set off after the team. I caught up just as Reena, my teammate from India, looked behind her and noticed there was one person missing.She swung around on her skis in shock and spotted me in the near distance. As we continued, my panic slowly faded.For the rest of the day, each of the team was glancing over their shoulder every few minutes.They were not going to risk losing me again. At last, each of the team members kept looking back _ . A. to avoid being attacked from behind B. to make sure that none fell behind C. to check the distance they had covered D. to keep a record of the route they took Answer: B. to make sure that none fell behind We knew Sylvia and Jack had problems with their flats, but we hadn't been told the details. Not until they came for a weekend in October, that is. At dinner on the Friday evening Kitty said, "You wrote that the flat wasn't quite what you expected. Of course it could be too small. You're sharing with another couple, aren't you?" "Were sharing. Mother." Sylvia replied. "It really wasn't necessary." Jack explained proudly, "I've had a big rise, and we can easily manage. It's much better to be independent." "Oh, much," I agreed "What was the trouble?" Kitty asked, impatient and unwilling to let her go. "Nothing much." Sylvia said, "The flat is fine. It was the other couple. Sally and Tom Ford. You've never seen such an untidy pair. We shared the sitting room and the kitchen and the bathroom and got fed up with the mess of it all." "And what made it worse," Jack put in. "was that they accused us of the same sort of thing. Tom and I nearly came to blows when he locked up some of their wedding presents we were all using, as they used ours, naturally." "You take a chance when you make a sharing arrangement." Kitty said. "I am in my own flat." Sylvia said, "Sally and Tom left a month ago." "We could have left instead," Jack said, "But why we should leave? After all, the flat was in out names, not theirs. We were glad to see the back of them." Two weeks later Kitty and I retuned their visit for lunch on Sunday. It was the first time we had been to their flat. To say that we were shocked is not true, because we know our daughter extremely well. The flat had fairly recently been in quite good condition; it was now a chaos. I did not know how anyone could possibly live there. But Sylvia noticed nothing. Who was Kitty? A. The owner of the flat. B. Jack's mother in law C. Sylvia's mother in law D. The author's good friend. Answer: B. Jack's mother in law
Alan worked in an office in the city. He worked very hard and really wanted to take a holiday. He usually went to the seaside, but one day he saw an ad in a newspaper. "Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at Willow Farm. Good food, fresh air, horse riding, walking, fishing. Good prices ." "This sounds like a good idea," he thought. "I'll spend a month at Willow Farm. I'll enjoy horse riding, walking and fishing. They'll make a change from sitting by the seaside." Four days later he returned home. "What's wrong with Willow Farm?" his friend Jack asked him. "Didn't you enjoy country life?" "Country life was fine," Alan said, "but there was another problem ." "Oh, what?" "Well, the first day I was there a sheep died, and we had roast mutton for dinner." "Fresh meat is the best." "I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner." "Lucky you!" "You don't understand," Alan said. "On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner." ' "A different roast every day," Jack said. "Let me finish," Alan said, "on the fourth day the farmer died and I didn't dare to stay for dinner!" Where did Alan usually go to spend his holiday? He usually spent his holiday _ . Mary is an English girl. She's six years old . Her mother takes her to school in the morning and brings her home in the afternoon. She likes her nice school. She likes her teachers, too. One day, she says to her mother, " Mom, we have a new girl in our class today, Her name is Kim. She's six years old , too. She's very nice, but she isn't English. She is German ". "Does she speak English "? "No, but she laughs in English ", Mary says happily . _ takes Mary to school every day. LONDON---The International Table Tennies Federation(ITTF) plans to work with Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Corporation, to promote table tennis in the United States, ITTF President Adham Sharara said. The plan was put forward after Gates came to London to watch the game between US teen player Ariel Hsing and Chinese Li Xiaoxia on Sunday, Sharara told Xinhua in an interview. Sharara didn't disclose the details, but said that Gates offered to help after watching Hsing's match, in which the 16-year-old girl nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Olympic table tennis history, pushing No. 2 seed Li to the limit before losing 4-2 in six tight sets. "Gates was surprised to see the young American girl played so well. He asked me what he can do to help promote table tennis in the United States. I think we'll work with him. If the United States becomes very strong in table tennis, it's also good for China," Sharara said. Sharara said the case is a "good example" which shows that ITTF's efforts in promoting the popularity. The ITTF has changed its rules for the London Games, allowing only two players from one nation to enter the singles events. Three players from each National Olympic Committee(NOC) were allowed to enter the singles in previous Games. "The reason we do this is to help more NOCs to join in our game. If we give more chances to the top countries, someone like Hsing will not come to the Olympic Games. They have no chance. But if we give them the chance, we can see what they can do," Sharara said. Sharara said the change increased the pressure on strong teams, like China, Japan, South Korea and Germany. "But they understand now because they saw other NOCs attending. Some countries before had no chance to play in table tennis, but now they are joining in table tennis." Other changes made to the Olympic Games include the color of floor (from red to blue) and new table design. "As far as presentation is concerned, we try to change all the time, especially in the Olympic Games. We hope to give audiences something new, exciting and cool." Table tennis has long been the strengths of Asia, especially China. Since the sport was introduced into the Olympics in 1988, China has taken 20 of 24 gold medals available. Four years ago in Beijing, it claimed six medals in the men's and women's singles. Talking about the development of table tennis, Sharara said, "China has the responsibility to promote the sport. Of course, China has done a lot." What gave Gates more confidence to promote table tennis in the United States? Trip 1 Black bear Count There have been fires in this area in the last few years and the Office of the National Park is not sure how many black bears are still living. Some bears have been seen since the fires, and the Office has asked for young people to help count them. The entire trip will last three hours. Bookings necessary. Cost: Free When: May 8 Trip 2 Garland Valley Bring your drink and lunch for this walk in a beautiful area of the Blue Mountains. Garland Valley is close to the town of Garland but is part of the National Park. Many wild animals live in this area, including many rare birds. This is a great walk for bird-lovers. The trip lasts four hours. Bookings necessary. Cost: $15 When: May 8, May 15 Trip 3 Flashlight Adventure Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight and a pair of glasses, and come for a night walk along the Dungog Valley, part of the National Park. A guide will lead the tour. Many of the animals you will see on this trip. The guide will tell you about the lives of the animals you see. Numbers are strictly limited on night trips, so be sure to book early. This walk lasts two and a half hours. Cost: $12 When: May 8, May 15, May22 Equipment to be needed: Please bring enough water and food for all walks. Wear good walking shoes---no high heels. Wear a hat for day walks. Dress warmly for night walks. Children must be with an adult. Make sure your flashlight works well and bring extra batteries for night walks. Follow all instructions from guides during the walks. The mountains are a dangerous place. Bookings: Bookings for the above trips can be trade by telephone (893 m 4847) or on the Internet at www. Blue mountain tour. com These trips are Japanese doctors have used thin sheets of tissue from people's cheeks repair damaged corneas . A team from Osaka University transplanted thin layers of cheek cells onto the eyes of four patients with a rare and painful eye condition,reports BBC online. Patients whose vision had been cloudy could see well afterwards,and the"new corneas"remained clear more than a year after the operation. Doctors can also take cells from a healthy eye and grow them in a dish to produce a new cornea,or they can transplant corneas from donors . But these techniques may not work when both eyes are too badly damaged by accident or disease. The team hope their work may help solve the problem and lead to other types of grow-your-own tissue transplants. The cornea is the clear layer of cells on the surface of the eye. It can be damaged by trauma or by a range of diseases. The team worked with four patients who had a painful condition that causes cloudy corneas and dry eyes. Often the eye can regenerate cornea cells but none of the four patients had this ability. The researchers took a 3 mm-wide square of tissue from inside the mouth(cheeks)and grew it into a thin layer in the lab. They used a special low temperature technique to separate a very thin sheet off each batch. They then laid that onto the patient's eye. The cell layers stuck onto the eye and developed into tissue that looked and acted like a healthy cornea. However,long-term follow-up and experience with a large series of patients is needed to assess the benefits and risks this method. Yet,"it does offer the potential of treating severe eye diseases that are resistant to standard approaches,"said the head of the research,Kohji Nishida. If both eyes are too badly damaged,we can treat them _ .
A well-developed class website can save teachers a lot of time in the long run, improving both student-teacher and parent-teacher communication while providing a repository of all classroom documents for future use. Although some extra time during the school year is required, once the site is up it needs just minor adjustments each new year. Have a question? Get an answer from online technology support now. Decide which type of software you will use to create a class website. Microsoft has many applications that can be used to create websites, such as Publisher, Word and Expression Web. Some web hosting sites also have simple editing tools you can use instead of a formal program. Find a place to host your class website. Your Internet provider often provides about some small space for a personal website for free, and many other free website hosting companies are on the Internet. Consider using a template for your first attempt at website design. Most templates also come with a selection of color and graphics already in place so you can concentrate on content instead of design. It will contain basic sections with your specific class information. Add content to your website. You need to have announcement sections for both parents and students, a syllabus or class rules area, homework assignments or a calendar, and maybe a links section for learning more about in-class topics and playing educational games. Decorate your website with graphics, clip art, background, cool fonts and other decorative items. It's best to find a theme you like, such as ducks or fire hydrants, and make your design elements all stick with your theme. If you think that is too attractive, go for an abstract look. Remember to keep it simple since too much color and graphics make a site look busy and detract from its usability. According to the article, a class website is of great help in _ . A. playing computer games B. storing class documents C. communicating between students and teachers D. reducing the teachers' time to run the website Answer: C. communicating between students and teachers Some of the greatest problems we face today are the destruction of our environment. Brown clouds, polluted water,endangered wild animals.... these problems seem so huge. So my family does what we can. We take cloth bags to stores instead of using plastic bags. We walk where we don't have to drive... But does it do any good? When I am the only one in line at the market with cloth bags, am I doing any good? Does my walking to stores make any real difference to the world? I recently learned something about flamingos which like to get together in groups of a thousand or more. Every year, when the time comes for migration ,a few of them first take off from the lake. But none of the others seem to notice. So the small group returns. However, the next day they try again. This time a few more fly along with them, but most of them still pay no attention, so they return again. They try for several times. Every time a few more birds join in but, since thousands of the others still take no notice, the great migration plan is once more stopped. Then one day something changes. The same small group of birds once again starts flying and a small number more join in just as before. then more. Finally, they all take flight and the migration really begins. What a _ sight it must be -- thousands of flamingos taking off into the sky at once ! A few can make a difference. Even if you're the one to take the first step, and continue trying, others will someday take notice and together we will solve even our greatest problems. Where would you most probably read this passage? A. A guidebook. B. A movie poster. C. A personal blog . D. A geology magazine. Answer: C. A personal blog . A heartbroken dog whose owner died two months ago is missing her so much that he attends services every day at the Italian church where her funeral was held, patiently waiting for her to return. Tommy, a seven-year-old dog, belonged to Maria Lochi, 57, and had been her faithful partner after she adopted him when she found him in fields close to her home. Mrs. Lochi adopted several dogs she found but friends said she developed a close friendship with Tommy and would walk to church with him every day, where he would be allowed to sit patiently by her feet. Father Panna said, "He's there every time I celebrate Mass and is very well behaved. He doesn't make a sound, and I've not heard one bark from him in all the time he has been in. He used to come with Maria and he was obviously devoted to her. I let him stay inside as he was always so well behaved and none of the other people ever complained to me. He's still coming to Mass even after Maria's funeral, he just sat there quietly. I didn't have the heart to throw him out. I've just recently lost my own dog so I leave him there until Mass finishes and then I let him out." Tommy's been adopted by everyone in the village now and he is everybody's friend. Everyone looks out for him and leaves food for him, although it would be nice to find a proper home for him. The story of Tommy is similar to the 2009 Hollywood filmHachiwhich told of how a faithful Akita dog waits patiently for his master after he also dies. It was based on the true story of a Japanese Akita called Hachi, whose owner died in 1925 but for the next nine years he waited patiently at the railway station for his owner from where they regularly caught a train. What does the writer want to tell us by quoting what Father Panna said? A. Why the dog can stay in the church every day. B. How the dog came to Mass with Maria. C. What Father Panna usually does in the church. D. Where Father Panna allows the dog to stay. Answer: A. Why the dog can stay in the church every day. When one loves one's Art, no service seems too hard. Joe was a man with a genius for art. Delia did things in six octaves promisingly. Joe and Delia became in love with one of the other, or each of the other, as you please, and in a short time were married - for (see above), when one loves one's Art no service seems too hard. They began housekeeping in a flat. It was a lonesome flat, but they were happy; for they had their Art, and they had each other. Joe was learning painting in the class of the great Magister - you know his fame. His fees are high; his lessons are light - his high-lights have brought him fame. Delia was studying under Rosenstock - you know his reputation as a disturber of the piano keys. They were mighty happy as long as their money lasted. After a while, Art flagged . Everything going out and nothing coming in, money was lacking to pay Mr. Magister and Rosenstock their prices. When one loves one's Art, no service seems too hard. So, Delia said she must give music lessons to make the ends meet. For two or three days she went out looking for pupils. One evening she came home overjoyed. "Joe, dear," she said, cheerfully, "I've a pupil. And, oh, the loveliest people! General - General Pinkney's daughter Clementina - on Seventy-first street." "That's all right for you, Dele," said Joe, "but how about me? Do you think I'm going to let you work while I play in the regions of high art? " Delia came and hung about his neck. "Joe, dear, you are silly. You must keep on at your studies. It is not as if I had quit my music and gone to work at something else. While I teach I learn. I am always with my music." "All right," said Joe. "But I may sell some of my pictures as well." The next few weeks, they both busied themselves with their own business and brought back a ten, a five, a two and a one - all legal tender notes - and laid them beside each others' earnings. One Saturday evening Joe reached home first. He spread his $18 on the table and washed what seemed to be a great deal of dark paint from his hands. Half an hour later Delia arrived, her right hand tied up in a shapeless bundle of wraps and bandages . "How is this?" asked Joe. Delia laughed, but not very joyously. "Clementina," she explained, "insisted upon a Welsh rabbit after her lesson. In serving the rabbit she spilled a great lot of it, boiling hot, over my wrist. Nothing serious, dear." "What time this afternoon did you burn your hand, Dele?" "Five o'clock, I think," said Dele. "The iron - I mean the rabbit came off the fire about that time." "Sit down here a moment, Dele," said Joe. "What have you been doing for the last few weeks, Dele?" he asked. She braved it for a moment or two with an eye full of love and stubbornness, but at last down went her head and out came the truth and tears. "I couldn't get any pupils," she wept. "I got a place ironing shirts in that big Twenty-fourth street laundry . A girl in the laundry set down a hot iron on my hand this afternoon. I think I did very well to make up both General Pinkney and Clementina. What made you ever suspect that I wasn't giving music lessons?" "I didn't," said Joe, "until tonight. And I wouldn't have then, only I sent up this cotton waste and oil from the engine-room this afternoon for a girl upstairs who had her hand burned with a smoothing-iron. I've been firing the engine in that laundry for the last few weeks." "And then you didn't ..." said Delia And then they both looked at each other and laughed, and Joe began: "When one loves one's Art no service seems ..." But Delia stopped him with her hand on his lips. "No," she said - "just 'When one loves.'" What can we know about the couple from the story? A. They both became famous for their talents in art. B. They turned out to be working at the same laundry. C. Art helped them out of the poverty they were faced with. D. Studying from famous teachers contributed most to their poverty. Answer: B. They turned out to be working at the same laundry. When a forested area receives very little rain, the tall plants in that area A. shoot up in height B. learn to drink saltwater C. grow so much stronger D. show thinner age markings Answer: D. show thinner age markings
Tyler was a troublesome student. He sat in the back row. Every time I called him to answer questions, he'd reply with a flip answer. If he got it wrong, he would get very angry. Usually kids could sit quietly in class. However, Tyler was just loud. One day, Tyler was talking while I was teaching. I said to him, "Tyler, why not join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?" He got up from his chair, pushed it over, and shouted something I can't remember. I sent him to the office and he received a week's out-of-school punishment. The week was a wonderful time for me, but when it came to an end, I began to feel worried. So I came up with a plan. On the day of his return, I told him I wanted to start over with him. If he felt like he was going to lose control in class, he could step outside the door for a moment. From then on, Tyler was a changed student in my classroom. In fact he was a smart child and he even stopped a fight between two students one day. And he never used the privilege to leave the class for a moment. I believe that just letting him decide for himself made all the difference. When the year was over, he wrote me a thank-you note about how good the year had been for him. I still have it today and find it very moving to reread when I get stressed about teaching. Tyler changed after _ . A. shouting at the teacher B. losing control in class C. having the privilege to decide for himself D. helping the teacher manage the class Answer: C People use hand dryers after washing their hands in order to A. fly B. Remove the fire C. clear away moisture D. go to space. Answer: C Within a few short years, girls in Europe have become heavier smokers than boys, for reasons experts still fail to understand, according to a British study, presented last week to an international conference on smoking. Anti-smoking activists at the second "Tobacco or Health" conference in the Canary Islands pointed out that while grown-ups were giving up smoking in ever-growing numbers, more and more young people were taking up the habit, particularly girls. One 15--year--old in four is a regular smoker, according to a study made in 27 countries in Europe and the United States, Canada and Israel----Edinburgh University together with the World Health Organization. In Western Europe, girls were more likely than boys to smoke. In prefix = st1 /Germanyor In England, one third of the girls were smokers compared to one in four boys. In Eastern Europe, the girls "still fall behind" those in the Western Europe but were "catching up" quickly, said the study. The study dealt with the behaviour of 15--year--old in seven European countries over four year periods between 1986 and 1998. The percentages of young women smoking went from 17 percent to 36 percent in Austria, from 17 percent to 28 percent inNorway, from 21 percent to 28 percent inHungary. In the seven countries Austria,Finland,Hungary,Norway,Sweden,SwitzerlandandWales--more girls smoked than boys in 1998, exceptHungary. The country where the number of young women smokers increases fastest is_. A. Norway B. Austria C. Hungary D. Sweden Answer: B Tanzania Tarangire is a national Park which lies in Tanzania. The park itself covers an area of around 2,850 square kilometers, making it the sixth largest park of its kind in the country. I recently visited Tarangire to see what it was like.... One of the first sightings upon entering the park which I found was a huge herd of elephants. Our guide told us that Tagrangire was probably the best place in Tanzania to find large herds of elephants, and that their population in the park was around 2,500. We continued to watch the elephants as they stood under trees and scratched themselves against the trees to hit the spot of an itch . To the right of the elephant herd, we noticed a big tree! Our guide informed us that this was a Baobab tree and that they could live for hundreds of years. Compared with this tree, the elephant just looked like dwarfs ! We were informed that Tarangire was one of the best National Parks in Africa to see so many Baobab trees. As we continued our drive through the park, we finally reached a watering hole. Our guide warned us that there were lions all around us. It took us all a while to find them, but there they were! Most of them are resting in the shade under brushes, but there was one that was drinking from the watering hole directly in front of us. We then noticed just to our right, there were a couple of fresh zebra corpses -- it seemed as if the lions which were resting had killed them! We were unlucky not to have seen the actual kill, as our guide had mentioned that the zebra corpses were fresh and the kill had occurred within the last hour. Our final big sighting was one that none of us were expecting to see, even our guide! We pulled over to where there was a large gathering of cars, with a sleeping leopard there! We took photos happily and excitedly and observed its surprising body before returning to our hotel as it was getting late. So, I hope you enjoyed my description of Tarangire, and that I have inspired you to add this amazing park to your very own Tanzania travel route. How did the writer travel in Tanzania Tarangire? A. On foot B. On horseback C. By car D. By bicycle Answer: C My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings. Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law! Did I mention that I was a priest ? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers. One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death. I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love. On the day I was to die, February 14, 269 A.D. I left my friend a little note thanking a girl, who helped me keep my spirits up, for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine." Which of the following statements is NOT true? A. Many young people visited Valentine after his arresting. B. It was Valentine that decided not to allow any more marriages. C. Valentine was excited about helping youths to get married secretly. D. Valentine was arrested, and sentenced to death. Answer: B
Question: .British people are famous for drinking tea. But brother and sister, Sarah and Bobby Green, became young millionaires when they opened a chain of American-style coffee shops in the UK. Having the idea: It started when Sarah took a weekend trip to New York to visit her brother Bobby. One evening, in a Thai restaurant, Sarah told Bobby how much she wished she could buy American-style coffee in London. Bobby suggested they started their own coffee shop. Sarah fell in love with the idea. Doing the Research: Back in London, she spent a whole day on the London subway, getting off the train at different stations to taste the coffee. "It was terrible, and I knew there was a gap in the market." In 1995, they opened their first Coffee Republic shop in central London. Making it work: The first year was very difficult. British people were not used to the names of American coffees, like latte and macchiato. But being successful was their dream and they were not going to give up. Today, there are over 100 Coffee Republic shops all over the country and the company has PS30 million a year. Advice for others: Sarah has now written a best-selling book about their experience, calledAnyone Can Do It ! She hopes it will help other young people to start their own businesses. She says, "If you think you have the energy, then get out and follow your dream." Which of the following information is mentioned in the passage? A. Sarah was not interested in Bobby's idea. B. British people never drank coffee before 1995. C. Sarah's best-selling book is about how to make coffee. D. Sarah found a business chance while doing the research. Answer: D. Sarah found a business chance while doing the research. Question: In order to make students become more interested in English studies,21 elementary schools in southeastern Korea have started to use robot teachers. The robot teacher is called Engkey. She was developed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. She is about one meter high and is white,egg-shaped. She takes a display panel as her face. She can move around the classroom while she speaks to students. She can also read books to students and dance to music by moving her head and arms. Now,21 robot teachers have been used to teach English. They are controlled by English teachers in the Philippines. There is a camera in each of the robot teachers. With the help of the cameras,English teachers in the Philippines can see and hear the students. At the same time,the facial expressions of these English teachers. This is very interesting. Besides helping students to become more interested in English,the robot teachers can also help children in poor areas without English teachers. Robot teachers have many good points. For example,they needn't have a rest because they don't get ill. Who control the robots when students have English lessons? A. The teachers in Korea. B. The teachers in the Philippines. C. Korea's Institute of Science and Technology. D. Robot's display panel. Answer: D. Robot's display panel. Question: Italians were reminded to slow down and relax on World Slow Day, an annual event celebrating life's simple pleasures. "Let's take this day to stop and think about all the things we miss while we're rushing through our lives," said Bruno Contigiani, the President of the Art of Living Slowly Association. Contigiani, 62, a one-time high-powered manager, is now an ambassador for the slow life movement around the world. He started the first World Slow Day in 2007 to encourage the values of living and working at a more natural pace, and to make people rethink their daily lifestyle. Contigiani's association suggests "14 commandments " for living better, such as waking up five minutes earlier to enjoy breakfast without rushing. Others include walking whenever possible, and reading in the evenings instead of watching television. This year, Contigiani left Italy where the event has spread around the country for Shanghai, one of the fastest moving cities in the world. The slow-living supporter said he wandered around the busiest streets of the commercial center for an entire afternoon, inviting people to "slow down". "Among the '14 commandments', the one about waking up five minutes earlier was the most popular by far, " Contigiani said. Back in Italy, the now well-known event hosts a lot of activities, such as reminding people to stop and smell the roses. In central Milan you would probably be fined if you walk too fast. In parks and public spaces, free yoga and Tai Chi lessons are important parts of the events. Italian farmers' union noted that Italians spent less and less time preparing meals, a habit connected to rising levels of obesity . Therefore, the group said World Slow Day was a good opportunity to remind Italians to take extra time at meals in particular. World Slow Day is by now an international event. A total of 90 "Slow Cities" in 11 countries inspired by the "live well" philosophy are supporting the day. World Slow Day is intended to _ . A. tell people to walk slowly B. encourage people to enjoy pleasant things C. advise people to adjust to modern lifestyle D. remind people to live and work at a natural pace Answer: D. remind people to live and work at a natural pace Question: Which is a possible disadvantage of using flowing water to produce electricity? A. ecosystem damage and loss of land B. reduced carbon dioxide emission C. only suitable for industrial use D. creates reservoirs Answer: A. ecosystem damage and loss of land Question: A good way to pass an examination is to work hard every day in the year. You may fail in the examination if you are lazy for most of the year and then work hard only a few days before the examination. A few days before the examination you should start going to bed early. Do not stay up late at night learning things. Before you start the examination, read carefully over the question paper. Try to understand the exact meaning of each question before you pick up your pen to write. When you have at last finished your examinations, read over your answers. Correct any mistake which you see and make sure that you have not missed anything out. Stay up late at night here means _ . A. sleeping in bed B. just sitting up without doing anything C. walking about in the room D. working far into the night Answer: D. working far into the night
Many people believe that they will be happy once they arrive at some specific goal they set for themselves. However, more often than not, once you arrive "there" you will still feel dissatisfied, and move your "there" vision to yet another point in the future. By always chasing after another "there", you are never really appreciating what you already have right "here". It is important for human beings to keep sober-minded about the age-old drive to look beyond the place where you now stand. On one hand, your life is developed by your dreams and aspirations . On the other hand, these drives can pull you farther and farther from your enjoyment of your life right now. To be grateful means you are thankful for what you have right now. Gratitude fills your heart with the joyful feeling and allows you to fully appreciate everything that arises on your path. As you try hard to keep your focus on the present moment, you can experience the full wonder of "here". There are many ways to develop gratitude. Here are just a few suggestions you may wish to try: * Imagine what your life would be like if you lost all that you had. This will most surely remind you of how much you do appreciate it. * Make a list each day of all that you are grateful for, so that you can stay conscious daily of your blessings. Do this especially when you are feeling as though you have nothing to feel grateful for. Or spend a few minutes before you go to sleep giving thanks for all that you have. * Spend time offering assistance to those who are less fortunate than you, so that you may gain a new perspective . What really matters is that you create a space in your consciousness for appreciation for all that you have right now, so that you may live more happily in your present moment. If we want to develop gratitude, we should better NOT _ . Answer: check out what we lose everyday Engineers at a major aerospace company were instructed Io test the effects of bird-strikes on the windshield of airliners and military jets. To simulate(D the effect of a goose _ an aircraft traveling at a high speed, the test engineers built a powerful gun, with which they fired dead chickens at the windshields. The simulations using the gun and the dead chickens worked extremely effectively, happily proving the suitability of the windshields, and several articles about the project appeared in the testing industry press. It so happened that another test laboratory in a different part of the world was involved in assessing bird-strikes--in this case on the windshields and the drivers' cabs of new high-speed trains. The train test engineers had read about the pioneering test developed by the aerospace team, and so they approached them to ask for specifications of the gun and the testing methods. The aerospace engineers gave them details, and the train engineers set about building their own simulation. The simulated bird-strike tests on the train windshields and cabs produced shocking results. The supposed high-speed train windshields offered little resistance to tile high-speed chickens; in fact every single windshield that was submitted for testing was struck to pieces, along with a number of train cabs and much of the test-lab itself. The frightened train engineers were concerned that the new high-speed trains required a safety technology that was beyond their experience, so they contacted the aerospace team for advice and suggestions, sending them an extensive report of the tests and failures. The brief reply came back from the aero-engineers: "You need to defrost the chickens... " What can we learn from the aero-engineers' brief reply? Answer: The train engineers didn't pay attention to energy detail In March 2012, researchers in the United States announce that they have developed the first wirelessly controlled device that can supply a drug directly into the body. A small chip is implanted under the skin. It contains the medicine, which it releases at preset times. The developers say the device could improve the lives of millions of people who take medicine for long-term illnesses. A company called MicroCHIPS began developing the device about fifteen years ago. Last month, the company released the results of its first successful tests in humans. The tests took place in Denmark with seven women with osteoporosis. Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and break easily. The disorder is common among older people, especially women. Many patients have to give themselves daily injections of medicine. One type of treatment requires injections for two years. Robert farra is the president of MicroCHIPS. He says many patients stop taking the medicine because of the pain and stress of the injections and that only twenty-five percent of the patients will go through the entire twenty-four months of treatment. The microchip is a few centimeters long. It has small sections that each hold a single dose of medicine. Mr. Farra says the device has to be programmed with the times to release the drug and that doctors will be able to reprogram the device from a computer or even a cell phone. The seven women in the study were aged sixty-five to seventy. The researchers say the implants were just as effective as daily injections. And they say the dosage amounts were more exact than patients often give themselves. The microchips in the study held only twenty doses of medicine. Mr. Farra and his team are now designing a version that could hold a full year's worth of medicine. Robert Farra says, "The new version may take us two years, and then we may be required to do two additional trials, taking about four years before the device is available on the commercial scale." Which is NOT the advantage of the device? Answer: it held only twenty doses of medicine. Wildwood School Library Guide This will offer you some information about our school library. You can use this guide to help your kids use our library. Service hours: 3:00 p.m.--5:30 p.m.on school days; 8:30 a.m.--11:00 a.M.on weekends On school days, your kids may borrow or return books during opening hours only when his classroom teacher allows him to.At the weekend, our library is open to both you and your kids. Borrowing: Each student can borrow one or two books at a time. More books can be borrowed only for class reading activities and school research. Returning: Books borrowed from the library can be kept for 15 school days. The books must be returned before the due date or the kid can not borrow other books. Damaged or Lost Books: When a book is returned in a damaged condition, the kid will have to pay three dollars for the damage. Full price must be paid if a book is lost. We encourage students to carry their library books in plastic bags to protect them from rainy weather. Please call us at 33621323 for more information. This library guide is for _ . Answer: parents of the Wildwood School students Reading is very important to help you learn English. To learn as much as you can from reading, you need to read different kinds of English. This book provides not only different kinds of English but also a good way to check your reading ability. There are four parts in the book : Part 1 is Messages : In this part somebody wants to send information in writing to somebody else. There is a test on timetables and a test on text messages . Part 2 is People : In this part all the tests are about people . For example, there is an informal letter between friends . There is formal English in biography . There is a job application as a model to help with your writing, as well as testing your reading . Part 3 is Places : In this part , too many different kinds of English are shown , some informal and some formal . There is the informal English of a holiday postcard . There is also the formal English in a letter of complaint . Part 4 is Things : You will find some descriptive writing in this part . There are descriptions of clothes and of a computer . You can do these tests in any order you like , or you can do all the tests with a formal or informal text . I enjoyed writing this book and I hope you enjoy using it . We can find the introduction to a product in _ . Answer: Part 4
Question: Almost every person uses the Web for something nowadays. This is a good idea since it is useful for so many different things. When you consider its speed and convenience, you will understand that there isn't any reason to use any other means to complete everyday jobs. Just consider the convenience factor when you need quick simple information. Looking for a movie can take just minutes by jumping online as opposed to going and getting a newspaper and then hoping it has the theater that interests you. It is also a great way to find a restaurant for the evening. From the online yellow pages to the various websites of different eateries , there are many different choices of spots to gather information. Find old friends from school by joining in one of the endless groups that have been created to put people together. Information is just so easy to get when you are using the Web. Find out how to build a pond yourself in your own backyard or garden by a quick search. Then shop for materials and fish as well. Shopping on the Internet also saves time and we can select a better product without having to travel a long distance. Using the Internet, shoppers can go through the product's prices from various stores while sitting in one place. Studying for school of any kind is easier when you can use the Web to find information. Now you can search an online dictionary that anyone can use at no cost. Doing research is easy, since there are lots of sites devoted to helping students of any type get their work completed. Businesses also have a huge existence on the Web. A company might only have a simple website to give directions and its location. There are many of us who now depend on the Web. If a business does not have some type of website, then it will not be found by those who search the Web for local businesses. The following are mentioned in the passage showing that the Web brings convenience EXCEPT for _ . A. looking for a movie B. finding a restaurant C. doing the shopping D. getting a newspaper Answer: D Question: Your house may have an effect on your figure. experts say the way you design your home could play a role in whether you pack on the pounds or keep them off. you can make your environment work for you instead of against you. Here are some ways to turn your home into part of your diet plan. Open the curtains and turn up the lights. dark environments are more likely to encourage overeating, for people are often less self-conscious when they're in poorly lit places - and so more likely to eat lots of food. If your home doesn't have enough window light, get more lamps and flood the place with brightness. Mind the colors. Research suggests warm colors fuel our appetites. In one study, people who ate meals in a blue room consumed 33 percent less than those in a yellow or red room. Warm colors like yellow make food appear more appetizing, while cold colors make us less hungry. So when it's time to repaint, go blue. Don't forget the clock - or the radio. People who eat slowly tend to consume about 70 fewer calories per meal than those who rush through their meals. Begin keeping track of the time, and try to make dinner last at 30 minutes. And while you're at it, actually sit down to eat. If you need some help slowing down, turning on relaxing music. It makes you less likely to rush through a meal. Downsize the dishes. Big serving bowls and plants can easily makes us fat. We eat about 22 percent more when using a 12-inch plate instead of a 10-inch plate. When we choose a large spoon over a smaller one, total intake jumps by 14 percent. And we'll pour about 30 percent more liquid into a short, wide glass than a tall, skinny glass. What can be a suitable title for the text? A. Is Your House Making You Fat? B. Ways of Serving Dinner C. Effects of Self-Consciousness D. Is Your Home Environment Relaxing? Answer: A Question: As is known to us all, baths and bathing have long been considered of medical importance to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a water system for baths built over 3,000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some baths, as many 3,000 persons could bathe at the same time. Treating disease by taking bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing first became popular in Europe and by the late 1700's has also become popular in the United States. For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one's health. Ordinary bathing just to keep clean was avoided, and _ was often used to cover up body smells! By the 1700's doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently. During the Victorian Age of the late 19th century, taking a bath on Saturday night became common. In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as "The Great Unwashed!" In one American city, for example, a person was only allowed to take a bathe every thirty days! That was a law! Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health, Doctors know that dirty bodies increase the chance of diseases. As a result, in the United States, people generally bathe often. Some people bath once a day at least. They consider a daily bath essential (="necessary)" to good health. A water system for baths was built by _ over 3,000 years ago. A. the Greeks B. the Romans C. the Americans D. the Europeans Answer: A Question: When Denis Hennequin took over as the European boss of McDonald's in January 2004, the world's biggest restaurant chain was showing signs of recovery in America and Australia, but sales in Europe were sluggish or declining.One exception was France, where Mr.Hennequin had done a reliable job as head on the group's French subsidiary to sell more Big Macs to his relatives, His task was to copy this success in all 41 of the European countries where anti-globalisers' favourite enemy operates. So far Mr.Henncquin is doing well.Last year European sales increased by 5.8% and the number of customers by 3.4%, the best annual results in nearly 15 years.Europe accounted for 36% of the group's profits and for 28 of its sales.December was an especially good month as customers took to seasonal menu offerings in France and Britain, and to a promotion in Germany based on the game of Monopoly . Mr.Hennequin's recipe for revival is to be more open about his company's operations, to be "locally relevant", and to improve the experience of visiting his 6.400 restaurants. McDonaId's is blamed for making people fat, exploiting workers, treating animals cruelly, polluting the environment and simply for being American.Mr.Hennequin says he wants to engage in a dialogue with the public to address these concerns. He introduced "open door" visitor days in each country which became hugely popular.In Poland alone some 50,000 visitors came to McDonaId's through the visitors' program last year.The Nutrition Information Initiative launched last year, put detailed Sables on McDonaId's packaging with data on calories, protein, fat, carbohy drates and salt content, "the details are also printed on tray-liners. McDonaId's is blamed in Europe for the following reasons EXCEPT _ . A. making people fat B. exploiting workers C. treating animals cruelly D. earning too much Answer: D Question: As we all know, Stephen Hawking writes the book A Brief History of Time that explains the origin of the universe. The book spent 147 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List and has sold 10 million copies. He is, most agree, very smart. In his recently published autobiography My Brief History,Hawking offers four life lessons on how to become a genius. 1) Don' t miss opportunities by being too cool "We showed an air of complete boredom and the feeling that nothing was worth making an effort for. One result of my illness has been to change all that. When you are faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realize that life is worth living and that there are lots of things you want to do." Seize the moment, as Oxford would say. 2) Keep it simple When writing A Brief History of Time,he tried to make science understandable for the rest of Us. "I was sure that nearly everyone is interested in how the universe operates, but most people cannot follow mathematical equations . "He has trouble with them, too."This is partly because it is difficult for me to write them down, but mainly because I don't have an inborn feeling for equations. My aim in the book was to describe these mental images in words. It is such an easy book that everybody can understand it." The moral: You don't have to be a genius to know everything. 3)Have fun Hawking has a long history of being a joker,and he has placed lots of bets with other scientists on the nature of black holes. One was with Cal-Tech scientist John Preskill. After paying off his bet by giving Preskill a baseball encyclopedia, Hawking wrote,"but maybe I should have just given him the ashes." So lighten up! Geniuses like bad jokes too. 4) Always look for a silver lining (even if you are seriously ill) Hawking's disease has slowly robbed him of the ability to walk,move his arms,even speak. But, Hawking says,"in some ways I guess my disability has been an assist:I haven't had to lecture or teach students, and I haven't had to sit in meetings. So I have been able to devote myself completely to research."In other words, Hawking was given lemons, and he made Champagne. Hawking shows his viewpoint by _ . A. making comparisons B. quoting a famous saying C. listing the numbers and equations D. talking about his own experience Answer: D
Talking to Teachers--Teachers are just people.Behind that desk, is a living, breathing human being.And just like any human being, they will probably be friendly to people who talk nicely to them.Teachers also seem to get along better with children who take schoolwork seriously and are prepared for class.And, just like any other human being, teachers like to be appreciated.The next time your teacher helps you solve a math problem or figure out a science project, say thank you with a smile. Talking to Parents--Parents can be very supportive if their children ask for help.If you think there's something your parents can do to help you socialize more or feel more comfortable around people, then ask them.Very often, parents want very much to help, but really don't know what to do.Pick a quiet time of the day and ask to talk.Tell them how you feel.Maybe they had the same trouble when they were kids. Talking to Stranger --This is always a tough one.How do you deal with a neighbor, the mail carrier, or someone walking down your street--situations that often seem to cause arguments between kids and parents.The answer to these questions will vary from kid to kid, from parent to parent because all cultures are different.Some folks live in small towns where a hello to everyone is "what's done".Then there are kids who live in the city who may have been taught not to speak to anyone they don't know.If you're having trouble with this and always feel _ in these kinds of situations, you might want to talk to your parents or a teacher about it.Where do they think you should draw the line ? When is silence rude and when is it wise? The passage doesn't say but it implies that in daily communication _ . Answer: Those who spend more pre-bedtime hours using the Internet or watching television are more likely to report insufficient sleep, even though they sleep almost as long as people spending fewer pre-bedtime hours in front of a computer or television screen, survey findings show. "While many people use electronic media, say, the Internet, it should be noted that the longer media use before sleep can trigger (self-perceived) insufficient sleep," lead researcher Dr Nakamori Suganuma, of Osaka University, Japan, told the reporter. He and colleagues obtained data on self-perceived sleep problems and the use of electronic media prior to bedtime from 5,875 altogether Japanese respondents in two separate Internet-based surveys. Their findings are published in Sleep and Biological Rhythms. Nearly half of the respondents associated their problem with electronic media use before bedtime. Longer electronic media users were also more likely to report insufficient sleep. "Overall, 29% of light users (less than 1.5 hours) listed electronic media use as a possible cause of their insufficient sleep. By comparison, 40% of medium users (1.5 to 3 hours) and 54% of heavy users (more than 3 hours) said the same. However, longer Internet and television use before bedtime did not _ less actual sleep. While heavy users averaged about 3 more hours in front of computer or television screens than light users, the heavy users averaged only about 12 minutes less pre-workday sleep time than light users. Notably, Suganuma said, "Internet use affected self-perceived insufficient sleep more than TV watching not only in younger Internet users but also in middle-aged or aged Internet users." Up to 38% of the respondents listed accessing the Internet far into the night as a possible cause for their sleep disturbance, while about 25% said watching television far into the night caused it. The findings suggest that while heavy computer and television use before bedtime has a small effect on sleep duration, it may have a more significant effect on "sleep demand and sleep quality," Suganuma notes. The passage seems to suggest that people _ . Answer: The "Neighborhood Watch" scheme all started a few years ago in the quiet village of Mollington after a number of burglaries in the village and the surrounding area. The villagers came up with the idea that they themselves could keep an eye on their neighbors' possessions while they were away on holiday. Since then, and with the support of the government and police, more than 50,000 "Neighborhood Watch" schemes have been set up all over the country. The object of each "Watch" group is to reduce the opportunities that criminals have in any particular street or area. Each villager who is a member of the scheme will call the police whenever they see something suspicious. It is the police who actually check out each report and look into what is happening. Villagers who are part of the "Watch" are not supposed to act as police or put themselves in danger. When a new "Neighborhood Watch" scheme is set up in an area, one benefit is that most burglars dare not take a chance on breaking into someone's house because they know that there is a high risk of being seen by neighbors keeping a lookout. Burglars also know that people are more likely to have fitted good locks to their doors and windows. Another benefit is that, since the "Neighborhood Watch" schemes came into existence, there is growing evidence of a new community spirit. It is bringing people together as never before, and encouraging people to care for each other. New friendships are being made, and contact is often established with old people living on their own, who are often the most frightened and the most at risk. When members of a "Watch" group see suspicious individuals, they should _ . Answer: Parents in three Midwestern states will soon know just how good or bad their kids' driving is when their children take the car for a spin . Starting today, American Family Insurance is offering customers with teen drivers free cameras that record what happens when a sudden change in the car's movement occurs. The cameras record the action inside and in front of the car in 20-second audio-video clips . The clips are then transmitted to Drive Cam, a prefix = st1 /San Diegocompany that analyzes the clips for risky behavior. Among things the analysts look for is the response time of the drivers and if they are paying attention to the road. Parents can receive a report on their kids' driving and view the clips on a home computer. Car accidents are the leading cause of death among U. S.teens, according to the NHTSA(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). "There will be fewer accidents," Rick Fetherston, vice president at American Family said of the new system. American Family will test the system out by offering it for free for one year to 30.000 families in Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesotato see whether the system results in fewer accidents. If the system is proven to prevent accidents, customers who volunteer to use it might see their insurance premiums drop. The company would not be viewing the videos or individual score cars, unless there is an accident. Bruce Moeller, president of Drive Cam, says his company's system is already being used by companies with lots of cars. "Some of our customers are reporting a 30% to 90% reduction in their risky driver events," Moeller says. But a lawyer in Minneapolissays. "If I felt I needed a camera in the car to watch over my kids, I shouldn't be letting them drive." American Family tested the system in two high schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Megan Ireland, 17, said the camera caught her stopping too late and taking turns too fast. The student at Prior Lake High School in Savage, Minn., said she didn't like it because she felt it invaded her privacy but has warmed up to the system. "Now I don't really have a problem with it because it's made me a better driver," she says. "For real." Which of the following states is NOT true according to the passage? Answer: Paperback: 264 pages Publisher:. Sams (March 29,2005) ISBN: 0672327627 Product Dimensions: 8.4x5.5x0.6 inches OVERVIEW This book offers straightforward practical answers when you need fast results. By working through each 10-minute lesson, you'll learn what you need to begin to use the PHP scripting language to make your websites interactive and dynamic. REVIEW When I first laid eyes on this book and its title, Teach Yourself PHP in 10 minutes, my first thought was that I was going to see this! So I opened it up and figured I'd look through it for ten minutes and see what would hit me. Well, 10 minutes turned into 20, 20 into 30 and 30 into a valuable resource that sits on my desk. Not only are the lessons within brief, but they are very easy to understand, well presented and very easy to understand for the beginner. Each lesson comes with tips to point out shortcuts, cautions to help you avoid common mistakes and notes to additional infomation. This book can be used in two ways, as a reference or as a complete tutorial on PHP basics. That alone is something that is very rare in teaching type books these days. Some of the more valuable and informative lessons will take you into the areas of: --Strings and variables --Processing HTML forms --Controlling and filtering data --User authentication --Cookies and sessions --Security practices --Configuring PHP and more!!! The book is pretty basic for experienced PHP coders, but for new or intermediate users this book is worth more than the small $19.99 CAN suggested price. Although the cover suggests it covers PHP 5.0, the coding found within also applies to PHP 4.X CONCLUSION This book completely surprised me with its value and does indeed teach you in ten minutes what other books claim to do in 24 hours. Full marks to author Chris Newman for this handy guide. What is the book about according to the passage? Answer:
Why do men live a shorter life than women? The latest research indicates that men's hearts going into a rapid decline when they reach middle age could be the cause. The research of ageing on the heart has shown that women's _ may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose much pumping power with age. "We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 20 and 70 years of age," said the head of the study, Samantha of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. "Within the heart there are millions of cells which make it beat.Between the ages of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men ," said Samantha."This is part of the ageing process." What amazes scientists is that the female heart suffers very little loss of these cells.A healthy 70-year-old woman's heart could work almost as perfectly as a 20-year-old one's. "This gender difference might give the reason why men live shorter than women,"said Samantha.They studied over 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 17 and 80, who are mainly healthy persons so as to reduce the influence of disease."The team has yet to think about why ageing suffers a greater loss on the male heart," said Samantha. But there is also good news -- men can enjoy the health of their hearts with regular exercise.Samantha stressed that women should also take regular exercise to stop their leg muscles getting weaker as they age. According to the text, the UK scientists have known that _ . A. men have fewer cells than women when they are born B. women can produce the cells that make the heart beat C. the female heart suffers less loss of the cells with age D. women will never suffer the loss of pumping power with age Answer: C Money Matters for Students GETTING A GRANT Who pays? The Local Education Authority (LEA) for the area in which the student is living. Who can get this money? Anyone who gets a place on a first degree course, although a student who has already attended a course of advanced further education may not. Students must also have been resident in the UK for at least three years, which can exclude some students from overseas. SPECIAL CASES If a student has worked before going to college: A student who is 26 or more before the course starts and who has worked for at least three of the previous six years will get extra money--PS155 a year if 26, increasing to a maximum of PS615 at 29 or more. If a student is handicapped : LEAs will give up to PS500 to help meet extra expenses--such as buying a tape recorder for a blind student, extra heating or special food. Banking: Most of the big banks offer special services to students who open accounts (in the hope that they will stay with the bank when they become rich officials). A student won't usually have to pay bank charges as long as the account stays in credit. Some banks allow students to overdraw by PS100 or so, and still don't make charges (though they do charge interest). Which of the following is TRUE? A. A student already attending a course of advanced education is sure to get a grant. B. A student aged 30 can get extra money--PS615 a year. C. A student usually must pay back charges when the account is in credit. D. Students are allowed to overdraw by PS100 or so in any bank. Answer: B Bob was only seven years old. One night Bob was at home alone while his parents were out for a party. He had often stayed alone before,so he wasn't afraid. As he waited for his parents to return home,he watched a film on TV. His eyes became heavier and heavier as time passed by. Suddenly Bob's eyes opened wide--what was the sound in the next room? Bob heard the window being opened slowly. For a minute,Bob was so frightened that he could not move,and his body felt like ice. He knew that he couldn't lose his head and began to think of the things he could do. Again he heard the sound of someone trying to climb into his home through the window. Bob's drums were standing in the corner near the TV. "Wait,maybe there is something I can do,"thought Bob. He beat on his drums as hard as he could. The sound was so terrible that Bob surprised even himself. He also surprised the man in the window,who ran away as fast as possible.How clever he was! The person who wanted to come into the room might be _ . A. a friend B. a stranger C. an animal D. a thief Answer: D One cold winter morning, an old woman had to go to see her doctor. When she walked into the doctor's office, she told him that her right leg hurt and sometimes she could not walk. She asked him what was wrong. She told him that she had never had such a feeling before. The doctor checked the old woman carefully, then he said, "You're in good health for a woman of your age. I think the trouble in your right leg is just a matter of old age catching up with you. We get all kinds of illness as we get older. The trouble will almost certainly end in spring." "I don't think so, doctor!" she said. "My left leg is well, and it's the same age as my right one." What was wrong with the old woman? A. She ate little food every day. B. One of her legs hurt. C. Her hands were both hurt. D. Her head hurt badly. Answer: B Scientists have discovered a special biological behavior in dolphins that could lead to a treatment for late-onset diabetes in humans. Studies on dolphins found that healthy dolphins switch into a diabetic-like state overnight when they are not feeding, but return to normal when they eat the following morning. The extraordinary finding has led scientists to suggest that dolphins have "genetic switch" that allows them to imitate diabetes while they are not feeding for a night, without suffering any ill effect. If researchers can identify a similar genetic pathway in human, they may be able to develop drugs to effectively switch off diabetes. Some 2.2 million people in Britain have type 2 (or late-onset) diabetes, a figure that is expected to reach 4 million by 2025 as a consequence of rising levels of obesity . The tissues of people with type 2 diabetes have become resistant to insulin so they lose the ability to control sugar levels in their blood. The condition can damage the heart, eyes, kidneys and nerves and contribute to 5% of all deaths, according to the World Healthy Organization. Dolphins appear to imitate diabetes to keep high levels of blood sugar when food is rare. Like humans, dolphins need some sugar in their blood for their brains to function normally. Venn-Watson's team analyzed 1,000 blood samples from 52 dolphins while they didn't eat anything overnight and fed in the morning. At night time, the dolphins' metabolism changed greatly and showed similar characteristics to that seen in people with type 2 diabetes. "It is our hope that this discovery can lead to new ways to prevent, treat and maybe even cure diabetes in humans," said Stephanie Venn-Watson, director of clinical research at the National Marine Foundation in San Diego. What's the main idea of the passage? A. Humans get some idea of treating diabetes from dolphins. B. Dolphins can switch into a diabetic-like state overnight. C. Humans can suffer the same disease as dolphins. D. Dolphins should be fed regularly to avoid diabetes. Answer: A
Question: "Let's go down one more, push your enter key..." says a volunteer helping senior citizens work a web session on the Inter-net. David Lansdale has found a way to light up the lives of the elderly. He gets them wired to the Internet. " If you hit your enter key, it will bring up this particular e-mail..." Pauline Allen is one of those who has started using the Internet," I thought I was through with life, I was ready for a rocking chair, because I was 86 years old. And I haven't found the rocking chair yet. " " You found the keyboard?" asks the reporter. " That's right, I found the keyboard. " The average age of Lansdale's students is around 68. All are in nursing or assisted care homes. He used family relationships to introduce them to the World Wide Web. David Lansdale says," Here they are in California, the family was back in New York, the opportunity to connect, to cross the time and space, was incredibly precious (valuable) to them. " "I hear you are so beautiful. " Lillian Sherly writes an e-mail to a newborn great granddaughter. Working with one another, the senior learn as a group. They learn to master the Internet and to overcome what Lansdale calls the maladies of the institutionalized :loneliness, helplessness, boredom, and loss of memory. Mary Harvey says," Bingo just doesn't interest me. But this does, believe me, this does. " Ninety-four-year-old Ruth Hyman is a star pupil and instructor. She says," When I send a letter to my grandchildren, and great grandchildren, they hang it up in their offices, just like I used to hang their drawings on my refrigerator. Ha, ha. " David Lansdale says," There's a collective benefit. There is an element of treatment. Remember we started as a support group. " Dixon Moorehouse says,"I just wish I was 15 years old and getting to learn all this. " The senior calls their weekly meetings Monday Night Live. And many say the meetings have given them new life. Ruth Hyman says," Three years ago, they told me I wasn't going to live. But I showed them, and got work, and I've worked ever since. How many examples does the writer give to prove that the senior enjoy the Internet? A. Four. B. Five. C. Six. D. Seven. Answer: B. Five. Question: Giant sunflowers? Maybe you like potatoes, tomatoes, or carrots.Or maybe you prefer green leafy house plants, tiny plants in a container, wildflowers that you can dry to save, or a butterfly garden. Whatever you hope to grow, knowing some gardening basics will give you a much better chance of success. First you will need to choose a good location for your garden.A sunny location usually works best, since all plants need some sunlight and most plants like lots of it.However, there are some plants that need only indirect sunlight, and these plants will do best in shady spots. Check soil too.The best kind of plant soil is called loam ; it is loose soil that crumbles easily.Water drains through it well, and it has lots of nutrients to feed your plants.Soil that sticks together might have too much clay in it.Very loose, dry soil might have too much sand.You can improve the soil in your garden by adding organic materials such as compost, or leaves.ks5u Climate--Check a map of planting zones to choose plants that are right for your area. Mulch --After you have planted your plants, add a layer of mulch on top of the soil.Mulch keeps the soil damp, keeps out pests, and adds more nutrients to the soil. Water - Water your plants early in the day.Plants need about 1 inch of water each week on average. Fertilizer - If you are planting a big garden, use about 1/2 pounds per 100 square feet.If you are just planting a few plants, get a little container of plant food and follow the directions on the label.Plant fertilizer contains the chemicals that make up a plant's diet. Why do you put a layer of mulch on top of the soil? A. To keep the soil dry B. To keep the soil wet C. To keep more pests D. To keep more nutrients out Answer: B. To keep the soil wet Question: Dear Carol, I wear braces and I know I look just terrible in them. Is there anything I can do to improve my appearance until they come off? Connie N. Philadelphia, PA Dear Connie, Start by thinking about how good you are going to look when your braces come off. If you are negative about your appearance, people will pick that up right away about you. In the meantime there are several things that you can do to lift your spirits: Change your hairstyle. Be sure to get a good cut so that the shape of your hair will be flattering to your face and also good for your type of hair (fine, thick, straight, curly, etc.) Choose a hairstyle that draws attention away from your face. Hair pulled back into a pony-tail or into a ball on top or slightly off-center can be attractive and practical for this purpose. Keep skin clean. If you choose to wear makeup , it should look natural. Blusher and lip gloss in light tones of peach or pink are best. Be well-groomed . Neatness really _ . People see a total look about you before they ever become aware of your braces. And first impressions are lasting ones! Carol's idea about one's appearance is that _ . A. change your hairstyle and you will look beautiful B. keep your skin clean and you will look good C. neatness really counts D. if you yourself don't think you look smart, neither will people Answer: D. if you yourself don't think you look smart, neither will people Question: Which function makes a plant cell different from an animal cell? A. ability to use energy B. ability to absorb nutrients C. ability to divide into two cells D. ability to convert sunlight into energy Answer: D. ability to convert sunlight into energy Question: A woman in blue jeans stood at the window of expensive shop. Though she hesitated for a moment, she finally went in and asked to see a dress that was in the window. The assistant who served her did not like the way she was dressed. Glancing at her scornfully , he told her the dress was sold. The woman walked out of the shop angrily and decided to punish the assistant the next day. She returned to the shop the following morning dressed in a fur coat, with a handbag in one hand and a long umbrella in the other. After searching out the rude assistant she asked for the same dress. Not realizing who she was, the assistant was eager to serve her this time. With great difficulty, he climbed into the shop window to get the dress. As soon as she saw it, the woman said she did not like it. She enjoy herself making the assistant bring almost everything in the window before finally buying the dress she had first asked for. In what way did the woman punish the assistant? A. She was dressed in a fur coat with a handbag and a long umbrella. B. She said she didn't like anything in his shop. C. She told him to climb into the shop window to get the dress with great difficulty. D. She made him fetch nearly all the goods out of the shop window. Answer: D. She made him fetch nearly all the goods out of the shop window.
I think all of us should know it's necessary to have breakfast. It's one of the most important meals of the day. If you want to keep fit, you should have a good breakfast. Choosing the right food is also important. For it, you may have bread, eggs and milk. But in fact, many students go to school without breakfast. This does harm to their health. Maybe they say they have no time because it's too late or their parents are too busy to prepare breakfast for them. What will happen to the students on an empty stomach ? Because of no energy, they can't keep active. They may not grow fast. When they feel hungry, they are not able to study well and they have no energy to play well, either. What's worse , they will spend more time getting better once they fall ill. Therefore , we shouldn't go to school without breakfast, no matter what reason it is. If students don't have breakfast, they will _ . Answer: John was part of my childhood growing up in the 1970s and a link to sunny, fun-filled days spent on the beach at Bangor in Northern Ireland where we went for our summer holidays. To many, he was a mystery. Every afternoon John would wander to the end of the pier where he fed the seagulls and delighted in the sound of their excited cries as they flew around his head. Often I asked my family questions regarding John. Eventually I gave up as no one could tell me anything about him. As I grew up, my visits to the beach became less frequent, and my memories of John buried in a child's imagination. Last year memories came flooding back as I walked along the coastline, where I noticed a lady feeding the seagulls on the pier, and I decided to introduce myself. Then I came to know that the lady was John's daughter, and after John left this world she carried out the ritual , which had held such importance for her father. In some strange way I felt we shared a bond, each needing to remember. In return, Lucy told me of John's life, his days in the British Navy during World War I and how he almost lost hope when his ship was attacked by a German U-boat in the North Sea and he found himself in a lifeboat with five others. Close to death, he thought he heard the sound of wings. He put up his hands, only to catch a seagull that had landed on the side of the boat. The seagull saved the lives of the six men as it was used to catch fish, which kept them alive until they reached land. This period of John's life was one he never talked about. But the ritual he first performed as a young man remained a part of him until he died. Now I visit Lucy as often as I can, just to chat or very often walk along the beach to the pier end. We enjoy the comfortable silence, each lost in special memories. Seeing John feeding the seagulls, the author might feel _ . Answer: Scientists have tried to come up with biological explanations for the difference between boys and girls. However, none were believable enough to explain the general picture. As one scientist points out, "There are slight genetic differences between the sexes at birth which may affect the subjects boys and girls choose. But the difficulty is that by the time children reach school age, there are so many other effects that it is almost impossible to tell whether girls are worse at science and maths, or they've been brought up to think of these subjects as boys' 'territory' ". Statistics show that in mathematics, at least, girls are equal to boys. A recent report suggests that girls only stop studying mathematics because of social attitudes. One of the reports' authors says, "While it is socially unacceptable for people not to be able to read and write, it is sill acceptable for women to say that they are 'hopeless' at maths. Our research shows that, although girls get marks which are as good as the boys' , they have not been encouraged to do so." The explanation for the difference, which is very clear during the teenage years, goes as far back as early childhood experiences. From their first days in nursery school, girls are not encouraged to work on their own or to complete tasks, although boys are. For example, boys and not girls, are often asked to 'help' with repair work. This encouragement leads to a way of learning how to solve problems later on in life. A further report on maths teaching shows that teachers seem to give more attention to boys than to girls. Most teachers who took part in the study admitted that they expect their male students to do better at mathematics and science subjects than their females students. All of this tends to encourage boys to work harder in these subjects, gives them confidence and makes them believe that they can succeed. Interestingly, both boys and girls tend to regard such 'male' subjects like mathematics and science as difficult. Yet it has been suggested that girls avoid mathematics courses, not because they are difficult, but for social reasons. Mathematics and science are mainly male subjects, and therefore, as girls become teenagers, they are less likely to take them up. Girls do not seem to want to be in open competition with boys. Neither do they want to do better than boys because they are afraid to appear less female and less attractive. What can probably be regarded as "female " subjects by boys and girls? Answer: Bird Talk includes everything you need to know to help keep your bird healthy and active.Get important information on bird healthcare and nutrition,step-by-step training and caging tips. Readers also enjoy color1ful photos,entertaining stories,and a centerfold poster in each monthly issue. Issues per year:12 Our price:$ 13.99 Cover price:$ 47.88 Art on Paper is a bimonthly art magazine devoted to works on paper. Offering a balanced range of media and historical periods. Art on Paper presents current information about exhibitions and the marketplace. Each issue contains news and announcements,reviews of current and recent museum and gallery exhibitions,as well as limited-edition prints. Issues per year:6 Our price:$ 45.00 Cover price:$ 80.00 Disney Adventuresis for children aged 7 to 14 who are eager to learn.This wacky and. exciting magazine focuses on fun and action-packed adventure covering the world of entertainment, comics, Sports, technology, and weird science. Issues per year:10 Our price:$ 14.95 Cover price:$ 29.90 Mother Earth News is a country lifestyle publication dedicated to helping readers with the how-to information of home building and home improvement.Topics include building, gardening,homesteading, do-it-yourself,kitchen and so on. Issues per year:6 Our price:$ 18.00 Cover price:$ 23.70 Which of the following is the most expensive according to the cover price? Answer: Welcome to the Van Gogh Gallery--the definitive reference for information about the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh. As a post impressionist painter and one of the most famous artists of all time, Vincent Van Gogh has become an icon . From growing up in Holland and pursuing a life as a pastor, to moving to France and creating an incredible collection of artwork, this site takes an in-depth look at Van Gogh's life, his work and the impact he has had on our culture. Van Gogh had many influences on his life including his family and friends, as well as other artists such as Paul Gauguin and Edgar Degas. In addition, Van Gogh's health also had a major influence on his life. To see how each of these affected his life please visit the Important Figures, Artistic Influences and Health sections. For information about how Van Gogh's has impacted our society today view the Impact on Art, Cultural References, or News section. If you are interested in adding more Van Gogh to your life, the Van Gogh Gallery has plenty to offer. Download Van Gogh images of some of his most famous paintings as wallpaper for your computer, shop for Van Gogh posters or prints, or check out some of the additional resources available including links to Van Gogh museums and shows. There are even lesson plans from multidiscipline areas for those interested in educating others about Van Gogh's art and life. Van Gogh has influenced generations of young artists worldwide since his time. Today we can see his impact in painting, in poetry and in video. We are happy to display new examples of art that were influenced by Van Gogh in our Van Gogh Community Art section. Tragically , Van Gogh died not knowing the acclaim his art would receive. Today his legacy is immortal and he will be forever known as one of the greatest artists of the modern era. Through this website The Van Gogh Gallery aims to share his life and legacy with the world. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about Van Gogh's great impact in the passage? Answer:
Andy loved the first grade. He loved his teacher,Mrs.Parks. He loved playing games on the playground. He loved learning about dinosaurs and the solar system . Every morning Andy's mother dropped him off in front of his school on South Street. One foggy morning,the traffic was so bad on South Street that she decided to drop him off behind the school. Andy walked for about ten minutes and got to the gate. He held the icy handle,but it didn't move!Using both hands,he tried his hardest and finally the gate opened. After Andy closed the gate behind him,he looked in the direction of the teaching building. But all he could see was fog. He got to the spot where the slide had always been,but it was not there."The slide is gone!" he cried. He walked a little more to look for the swings,but they were not where they had always been."The swings are gone!" he cried again. Andy kept walking. He was so anxious to see the school that he fell and landed on the ground. He still couldn't see the school. A terrible thought appeared in his head."The school is gone!" he cried sadly. No more games with Jennie,Angel and Dillon,he thought. No more reading about dinosaurs. No more watching videos on the solar system... Suddenly the boy saw something up ahead."It's Jennie!"he shouted. Then he saw the outline of a school building. His school was still there!He was full of excitement! "Hi,Jennie!" he stood up and caught up with the girl."I couldn't see the school. I thought it was gone." Jennie just laughed."You're so silly." "What happened to the slide and the swings?" Andy asked. "We will have new playground equipment today," Jennie answered."The old equipment was taken away last night. Don't you remember Mrs. Parks telling us about it yesterday?" "I guess I forgot," Andy said,smiling."Anyway,I'm glad the school is here." Why didn't Andy see the school building before he met Jennie? A. Because his eyesight was not very good. B. Because he went in the wrong direction. C. Because there was heavy fog that morning. D. Because he was not concentrated then. Answer: C. Because there was heavy fog that morning. A few days ago I asked my sons' governess Julia to come into my study. "Be seated, Julia, "I said, "Let's settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you're too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month..." "Forty." "No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you've been here two months, so..." "Two months and five days." "Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn't work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... "Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word. "Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct?" Julia's left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but - still not a word. "Around New Year's Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn't I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect , Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick's shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars." "You didn't. "sobbed Julia. "But I made a note of it." "Well... if you say so." "Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen." Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl! "Only once was I given any money," she whispered, her voice trembling, "and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more." "Really? You see now, and I didn't know that! Take three from fourteen.. leaves eleven. Here's your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is !" I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them. "Merci(: ),"she whispered. I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. "For what, this - 'merci'?" I asked. "For the money. " "But you know I've cheated you - robbed you ! I have actually stolen from you ! Why this'merci'?" "In my other places they didn't give me anything at all." "They didn't give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless ?Why didn't you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws --to be such a fool?" Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression,"It is possible." I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little"merci"several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,"How easy it is to crush the weak in this world !" At the end of the story, the writer said," How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!"to show _ . A. his understanding of Julia's anxiety B. his worry about Julia's future C. his concern on the living condition of working - class people D. his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited Answer: D. his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited "Look, Mom! What a pretty fish!" said John to his mother. John's mother asked, "Where did you get it, John?" "Frank caught it in the river. I went to the river to get some water and saw this little fish. Then I told Frank about the fish, and he ran to get his fishnet . He put the net into the water, and caught the fish. I put it into this box," "Well, what will you do with it?" asked John's mother. "I will keep it, Mom," replied John. "But, my boy, it will not live in that box. You should put it back into the river." replied his mother. John felt sad and said, "I wish I could keep it. It is so pretty! May I put it into the pond?" "No, John," said his Mom, "you must put it into the river. A trout will not live in warm water." What do you think will happen next in the story? A. John will put the fish into the river. B. The trout will change into a big fish. C. John will take care of it at home. D. The trout will die in the pond. Answer: A. John will put the fish into the river. As the price of a college degree continues to rise, there's growing evidence that the monetary payoff isn't quite as big as often advertised. The best estimate now is that a college degree is worth about $300,000 in today's dollars--nowhere near the million figure that is often quoted. "That million number has driven me crazy!" says Sandy Baum, a Skidmore economist who studied the value of a college degree for the College Board last year. Baum's research showed that college graduates earn, on average, about $20,000 a year more than those who finished their educations at high school. Add that up over a 40-year working life and the total differential is about $800,000, she figures. But since much of that bonus is earned many years from now, taking away the impact of inflation means that$800,000 in future dollars is worth only about $450,000 in today's dollars. Then, if you remove the cost of a college degree--about ,$30,000 in tuition and books for students who get no aid and attend public in-state universities--and the money a student could have earned at a job instead of attending school, the real net value in today's dollars is somewhere in the $300,000 range, a number confirmed by other studies. But, especially these days, that still makes a college degree one of the most _ investments a person can make, Baum notes. Better yet, college graduates can go on to earn advanced degrees, which return even bigger payoffs. The average holder of a bachelor's degree earns about$51,000 a year, Baum calculates. But those who've gone on to earn MBAs, law degrees, or other professional degrees earn about $100,000 a year. In addition, Baum found that there are plenty of other rewards for a degree. The quality of the jobs college graduates get is far better, for example. College graduates are more likely to get jobs with health insurance. And it is easier for them to find and hold jobs. The unemployment rate for college graduates was just 2.2 percent last year, half the unemployment level of those with only high school diplomas. There are lots of other nonmonetary benefits as well. College graduates are healthier, contribute more to their communities, and raise kids who are better prepared academically, studies show. Other researchers have found that the payoff of a degree is especially lucrative for students from low-income families, since the education and degrees give them a chance to break out of low-paying careers. Which of the following statements can be learned from the text ? A. According to Baum's research, high school graduates earn more than those who have college degrees. B. College education is enough to ensure you a good life. C. Nonmonetary benefits from the degree attract students more than monetary ones. D. Students from low-income families still think degrees are profitable to change their life. Answer: D. Students from low-income families still think degrees are profitable to change their life. Tomorrow is my best friend's birthday and I don't know what to get him. He's eleven years old like me, and to be honest, everyone likes to always mix us up. It's not that we look alike or sound alike or even dress alike, but it's our names, Tim and Tom, that do it. Anyways, he likes dinosaurs, board games, and toy cars so I'm not sure if anything under ten dollars has both of those in it. He also told me not to get anything that has feathers included in it as his mom always gets headaches when she's around them. My mom took me to the store and I looked around for something Tom would like. We had to pass through the clothing, medicine, and jewelry sections before we got to the toy aisle. My mom told me to not let her forget that we need to go to the garden section to get a new sprinkler before we go, but I was too into the toys to understand her. Finally, I found a board game where you play as different cars to try and finish a race first and thought that was perfect even without the dinosaurs. From there, we checked out and I gave the present to Tom on his birthday. He loved it and we played with our other friends, Daryl, John, and Angie. Sadly our other friend, James couldn't make it as he was sick, but we still had so much fun together. What did Tom warn Tim not to get when it comes to gifts? A. Any board games B. Any item with dinosaurs included C. Any item with feathers included D. Any toy cars Answer: C. Any item with feathers included
Question: Professor Merrill, in a lecture in her psychology course at a private university, described an experiment in which a group of college students in a neighboring city rushed out and washed cars stopped at traffic lights during the rush hour. She described how people reacted differently with shock, joy, and surprise. At the conclusion of her report, she said, "You understand, of course, that you are not to undertake this or any other experiment unless you first clear it with me." Four of Merrill's students decided to try the same experiment but did not clear it with Merrill. One subject of their experiment, Carr, said, "I was shocked. There were two people on each side of the car. At first I thought negatively. I thought they were going to attack me and thought of driving away. Then I quieted down and decided there were too many dirty cars in the city anyway." Charitable immunity has been abolished in the jurisdiction. If Carr has a valid claim against the students, will he also prevail against the university? A. Yes, if the students would not have performed the experiment but for Merrill's lecture. B. Yes, if Carr's claim against the students is based on negligence. C. No, because the students were not Merrill's employees. D. No, because Merrill did not authorize the car wash as a class project Answer: D Question: When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with great interest when my mother used to talk to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person-- her name was Information Please and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anybody's number. My first personal experience with Information Please came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. I accidentally hit my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn't seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my hurting finger, finally arriving at the stairway--the telephone! Climbing up I unhooked the receiver and held it to my ear. "Information Please," I said. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear, "Information." "I hurt my finger..." I cried. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. "Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's home but me." I sobbed. "Are you bleeding?" "No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts." "Can you open your icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger." After that I called Information Please for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. And there was the time that Petey, our pet canary died. I called Information Please and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said the usual things grown-ups say to comfort a child. But I was Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers, feet up on the bottom of a cage? She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better. Another day I was on the telephone. "Information Please." "Information," said the now familiar voice. "How do you spell fix?" I asked. All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Then when I was 9 years old, we moved to Boston. I missed my friend very much. Information Please belonged to that old wooden box in former home, and I somehow never thought of trying the tall, shiny new phone that sat on the hall table. Yet as I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me; often in moments of doubt and sadness I would recall the sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy. A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour or so between planes, and I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please." Unexpectedly, I heard again the small, clear voice I knew so well, "Information." I hadn't planned this but I heard myself saying, "Could you tell me please how to spell fix?" There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess that your finger must have healed by now." I laughed, "So it's really still you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time." "I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls." I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. "Please do; just ask of Sally." Just three months later I was back in Seattle.... A different voice answered Information and I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" "Yes, a very old friend." "Then I'm sorry to have to tell you. Sally has been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She passed away five weeks ago." But before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?" "Yes!" "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down. Here it is. I'll read it. " " I thanked her and hung up. I did know what Sally meant. The author picked up the telephone for the first time to _ . A. call his mother who was visiting a neighbor B. call the doctor for his wounded finger C. find out what exactly lived in the telephone D. find someone to give him sympathy Answer: D Question: A hare was very popular with the other animals who all said they were her friends. But one day she heard the hounds getting close and hoped to escape them with the help of her many friends. So, she went to the horse, and asked him to carry her away from the hounds on his back. But he refused, because he had important work to do for his master. He felt sure that all her other friends would come to help her. She then came to the bull, and hoped that he would _ the hounds with his horns .The bull replied," I am very sorry, but I have an appointment with a lady; but I feel sure that our friend , the goat, will do what you want." The goat, however, feared that his back might do her some harm if he took her upon it, The sheep, she felt sure, was the proper friend to ask for help. So she went to the sheep and told him the situation. The sheep replied, "Another time , my dear friend. I do not like to have anything to do with it , as hounds have been known for eating sheep as well as hares." The hare then went, as a last hope, to the calf ,who regretted that be was unable to help her , as did not like to take the responsibility upon himself. By this time the hounds were quite near, and the hare started to run and luckily escaped. What happened to the hare one day? A. The horse carried her away on his back. B. Her enemy came near and she was in danger. C. She had an argument with her friend,the bull. D. The goat hurt her when taking her upon his back. Answer: B Question: There is a story about the moon cake.During the Yuan dynasty, China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Song dynasty were unhappy about being ruled by foreigners, so they began to organize a secret rebellion. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Baked into each cake was a message containing the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. Today, these cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend and are called Moon Cakes. For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates, wrapped in pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of this rich tasting dessert. Some people have compared moon cakes to the plum puddings and fruit cakes which are served in the English holiday seasons. Nowadays, there are hundreds of varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of the Moon Festival. The leaders ordered the special cakes to be made in order to _ A. prize the rebels B. celebrate the holiday C. plan the attack D. carry the message secretly Answer: D Question: Dear Bewildered, Table manners are about being kind to and considerate of others.Having proper table manners is one way people judge others,and we don't want people to think that we are rude,do we ? Whether in a restaurant or in a home, here are some basic table manners for kids: 1Eat with a fork unless the food is meant to be eaten with fingers.Only babies eat with fingers. 2Sit up and do not hunch over your plate;wrists or forearms can rest on the table,or hands on lap. 3Chew with your mouth closed,No one wants to see food being chewed up.This includes no talking with your mouth full. 4Don't make any rude comments about any food being served.It will hurt someone's feelings.Always say thank you when you're served something. 5Eat slowly.It takes someone a long time to prepare the food,so enjoy it slowly.Wait about 5 seconds after swallowing to get another forkful . 6 Don't reach over someone's plate for something.Politely ask the dish to be passed to you. 7When eating at someone's home or being a guest of someone at a restaurant,always thank the host and tell him or her how much you enjoy it.At least say that you like the dinner ,for example, the dessert is great. The writer writes this passage mainly for _ . A. Foreigners B. kids C. Parents D. teachers Answer: B
Hammond decided to kill his wife by poisoning her. He asked his friend, Jordan, a pharmacist, to obtain some curare, a deadly poison, and to give it to him without recording the transaction. Because Jordan suspected Hammond's motive, she supplied Hammond with a small quantity of Marvane, an antibiotic, instead of curare. Marvane is harmless if administered in small quantities, except for the less than one percent of the population who are allergic to the drug. Hammond injected his wife with the Marvane while she slept. She was allergic to the drug and died from the injection. Jordan was distraught and confessed the entire affair to the police, explaining that she had failed to report Hammond's conduct to the authorities because she feared that it would end their friendship if she did."In a common law jurisdiction, Hammond is guilty of Prana, our beautiful dog whose name means 'breath of life', isn't with us any more. But she brought such joy and love that we still miss her. There are so many wonderful stories about the love in this dog, but my favorite is this one. It was an autumn day in Minnesota, but the weather didn't know the difference between autumn and winter. Unexpectedly, we were hit with a big snow fall for which no one was prepared. We have two apple trees in our backyard. Prana loved apples. When she went outside, she'd take hold of an apple, put it far back in her mouth, and _ the house to save for eating later. The apples had been on the ground and were often dirty so I wasn't always happy that Prana had brought them into the house. Feeling my displeasure, she would turn her head so I wouldn't see her hidden treasure. On the day that it snowed too early in the season, Prana went outside and I watched her from the window. I noticed that she was madly digging holes and brought the apples to the surface so they could be seen above the snow. I wondered why she was doing this. She seemed to be completely busy with some kind of important task to dig up as many apples as possible during her yard time. When I called her back into the house, she had her usual one apple in her mouth. About five minutes later, I looked outside. The yard was completely covered with birds. Prana had dug up all those apples for her bird friends to eat. She knew that they wouldn't have stored enough food to live through such an early winter. Prana was busy digging up the apples in the snow because _ . Soon computers and other machines will be able to remember you by looking at your eyes! The programme works because everyone's eyes are different. So in the future you won't have to remember a number when you want to use a machine or take money out of a bank. You'll just have to look at the machine and it will be able to tell who you are. The eye-recognition programme is tested in shops and banks in the USA, Britain and Italy. Scientists are working on other systems, such as knowing you from the shape of your face or hand or even your smell! And machines can already tell who you are from your voice or your fingerprint . But eye-recognition will replace other ways of finding out who you are. It is better, because your eyes don't change as you get older, or get dirty like hands or fingers. And even twins have different eyes, so the programme can be up to 94% correct, depending on how good the technology is. In Britain, it was found that 91% of people said that they liked the idea of eye-recognition. ,. How does the eye-recognition programme work? Edward Wilson The Future of Life, . Edward Wilson is America's, if not the world's, leading naturalist. In The Future of Life, he takes us on a tour of the world's natural resources . How are they used? What has been lost? What remains and is it able to continue with the present speed of use? Wilson also points out the need to understand fully the biodiversity of our earth. Wilson begins with an open letter to the pioneer in environment protection, Henry David Thoreau. He compares today's Walden Pond with that of Thoreau's day. Wilson will use such comparisons for the rest of the book. The problem is clear: man has done great damage to his home over the years. Van the earth, with human help, be made to return to biodiversity levels that will be able to support us in the future? Biodiversity, Wilson argues, is the key to settling many problems the earth faces today. Even our agricultural crops can gain advantages from it. A mere hundred species are the basis of our food supply, of which but twenty carry the load. Wilson suggests changing this situation by looking into ten thousand species that could be made use of, which will be a way to reduce the clearing of the natural homes of plants and animals to enlarge farming areas. At the end of the book, Wilson discusses the importance of human values in considering the environment. If you are to continue to live on the earth, you may well read and act on the ideas in this book. We learn from the text that Wilson cares most about _ The message what the "Eat up All on Your Plate" campaign tries to convey is not new. Our ancestorshad poems about the importance of frugality in the consumption of food. But it makes a lot of sensewhen many are yet to have the awareness that food waste borders on a crime. The campaign has been started online and thousands of people have answered the call. Manyrestaurants have joined the program by announcing that customers are encouraged to order half a dish andtake home what they can't finish. However, it is estimated that 50 million tons of grain are wasted every year in China, enough tofeed 200 million people for a year. True, official banquets paid with public money contribute much to such waste. But it isimportant that everyone thinks about how they can do their bit to reduce food waste. We need to developthe habit of never ordering or cooking more than we can eat and feeling guilty when we dump ourleftovers. Many people have a bad habit of entertaining guests with more than enough food, believing that theyhave not satisfied their guests' appetites if there is no food left on the table. In fact, to be a good host theyorder more than their guests can possibly eat and their guests eat more than they want out of politeness. Such a mentality needs to change. People need to be made aware that it is impolite to force guests toeat more than they are comfortable with and it is insensible and uncivilized to waste food. Even if one iswealthy, ordering more than one can eat is a bad way to show off one's wealth. The problem of food waste can be handled only when _ .
Many Americans go to work five days a week. American students go to school five days a week, too, so they usually have a two-day weekend. The weekend is Saturday and Sunday. At the weekend people spend their time in many different ways. Sometimes they go shopping. Sometimes they go for a drive. Sometimes they visit friends. Many families enjoy weekends together. Many American families do some sports at the weekend. For example , in summer, they enjoy swimming and biking. In autumn, they prefer playing volleyball and tennis. In winter, they go skating and skiing . In spring, they like sightseeing and hiking . How happy they are! Do you have an enjoyable weekend? How do Americans spend their weekends? Answer: On Monday, Sept.25, hundreds of people gathered outside the Library of Congress, in Washington D.C., to celebrate public libraries. For more than 100 years, libraries have played an important role in keeping America informed and educated. But how are these book-filled buildings changing with the times? You may be surprised to find out. Benjamin Franklin famously founded America's first lending library in 1731 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And the public library system developed greatly in the late 1800's. Businessman Andrew Carnegie donated millions of dollars to help build free public libraries across the country. Between 1886 and 1919, Carnegie's donations helped build 1,679 new libraries! Carnegie believed in the opportunities that libraries could offer Americans young and old. He knew that the more libraries there were, the more people would have access to books, lectures, news and more. "There are now more public libraries in the United States than McDonald's restaurants," said Clara Hayden, of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library. Chances are that there is a public library in or near your community . After all, the United States is home to 9,225 public libraries. Today, libraries continue to develop and grow. Seven out of ten libraries offer free Internet access. This opens any doors for community members who cannot go online at home, including the opportunity to apply for jobs online. Libraries are also teaching kids about the fun of reading. One new program called Read! Play! ----- combines reading with playtime. As kids listen to a book being read aloud, they use Legos to build images from the story. "Today's libraries are always looking for creative programming to bring people into the library," Lego's Michael McNally said. Benjamin Franklin once said, "The doors of wisdom are never shut." As long as the doors of public libraries are open, his statement is most certainly true! Clara Hayden would agree that in America _ . Answer: New York has taken the title of the world's top fashion capital from Milan. The annual survey suggest that the top five fashion cities are facing competition from Asia and Australia. New York had been the top fashion city for five years, but Milan took the title in 2009. The survey was made by the Global Language Monitor, a US based organization. It tracks the frequency of words and phrases in the media, on the Internet and throughout the blog. With the US economy recovering, New York once again took the top title. Hong Kong took second place. It was followed by London, Paris and Los Angeles. The other top 10 cities were Milan, Sydney, Miami, Barcelona and Madrid. "Because of the new economic situation, the global fashion centers have also changed a lot, "said Bekka Payack. the Manhattan-based fashion reporter for the Global Language Monitor. "The new list shows that global fashion centers will change now and then. Compared with the traditional fashion cities, some new ones are performing better and better. "She said that perhaps this is new trend, and it is the first sign that the traditional top five fashion cities----New York, Paris, London, Milan, and Rome----do not control global fashion any more. The biggest changes in the list are Hong Kong, Madrid and Melbourne. The Group said that the top newcomers to the list include Amsterdam at number 17, Cape Town at 23, Johannesburg at 25 and Vienna at 27. The following are the 10 top fashion cities of 2010 and the changes from 2009. 1. New York(up 1) 2. Hong Kong(up 5) 3. London(up 2) 4. Paris(down 1) 5. Los Angeles(up 1) 6. Milan(down 5) 7. Sydney(up 2) 8. Miami(up 5) 9. Barcelona(up 5) 10. Madrid(up 11) The text is probably taken from a _ . Answer: The earth is our home;we must take Care of it. This means keeping the land,air and water clean. Pollution is a dirty word. To pollute means to make things unfit or unclean to use. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it,smell it,taste it and drink it. Pollution is beginning to threaten our health,or happiness and our life. Man. has been polluting the earth from the time he first made fire,washed his clothes in the river and threw his waste on the ground. When land was used up or water became dirty. Men moved to another place. At first the problem was not so serious because there was plenty of clean air,land and water. There weren't so many people then and their wants were fewer. All the dirty things could be absorbed by nature and soon. covered over , But this is no longer true. The increase of population and the development of industry have changed that. Man is slowly polluting. his environment. Through the use of poison ,mall has polluted land! killing the animal. By putting dirty water and _ into rivers and lakes we have polluted our drinking water,killing the fish. Our increasing population is part of the problem. More people more waste. Where is this all to end? Are we turning the world into a big rubbish dump,or is there any hope that we can get rid of the pollution ?Luckily,millions of people have been warned of the danger of pollution. Large numbers of people are now working hard to bring pollution under From the sentences "More people more waste",we know that _ . Answer: With the new year coming, a new website was set up to offer ringtones of the sounds of dozens of rare and endangered species from around the globe. The Center for Biological Diversity started offering free wildlife ringtones for cellphones a year ago to educate people about the _ of the animals, and the campaign enjoyed such success that the environmental group has collected more ringtones and added them to its website for this year. The group plans to release a kind of new ringtones each month, including the sounds of the African elephant and the emperor penguin of the Antarctic, said Peter Galvin, the group's conservation director. "We've hit the 100,000th download in over 150 countries," Galvin said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "It's pretty interesting. We didn't realize how much of an international hit it would become." The response, he said, reinforces the worldwide movement to save endangered and rare species. Available ringtones include the howl of an endangered Mexican gray wolf, the bellows of an Arctic beluga whale and the calls of dozens of other mammals, birds and reptiles. Website visitors can also get cellphone wallpaper and facts for each of the species. And later this year, the website will be available in Spanish and more ringtones from species in Latin America will be added, Galvin said. The new ringtones mentioned in the passage are used to _ . Answer:
The New York Times is now better than ever-All the more reasons to order home delivery now. NEW-Separate sections for the Arts, Monday through Thursday, and Sports 7 days a week that you can pull out, take with you or pass along. NEW-The Dinning In, Dinning Out section, Wednesday, a banquet of great meals you can make yourself order up or eat out. NEW-The House & Home section, Thursday, filled with useful, interesting features and articles about making the most of all sorts of living spaces. NEW-An Enlarged, two-part Weekend section, Friday with more ideas about movies, shows, art exhibitions, outdoor and indoor recreation. Latest news and sports results daily. And of course, daily world and national news, Sunday's special sections and all the other great features you'll continue to find in the Times. Find out just how much you can obtain from the Times every day. Call 1-800-311-1969 or use the postage-paid order card to order convenient home delivery at 50% OFF our regular price. If you want to find out the more information of films you should _ . A call 1-800-311-1969 B go over the House and Home section C read the Art section D read Weekend section Answer: D. read Weekend section A fellow speaker from California named Geri flew to Japan, in her favorite jeans and a casual jacket, to give her first speech. Fourteen hours later, four perfectly dressed Japanese gentlemen greeted her at Narita Airport. Smiling and bowing low, they handed her their business cards. With her bag in one hand, Geri took their cards with the other. She thanked them, glanced briefly at the cards, and put them into her jeans pocket quickly. When the five of them arrived at the hotel, they invited Geri to tea in the lobby . While sipping tea, the gentlemen presented her with a small gift which she eagerly opened. She was thrilled with the gift and shouted excitedly, "Oh, it's beautiful!" At this point, the four Japanese gentlemen stood up and, bowing only very slightly, said "Sayonara" and left immediately. Poor Geri was left astonished. What did she do wrong? Everything! Her jeans were the first gaffe. Even if you're coming off a bicycle in Japan, you do not meet c1ients casually dressed. The second mistake was Geri's handling of their business cards rudely. In Japan, the business card is one of the most important communicative tools. It is always presented and accepted respectfully with both hands. However, Geri put their cards away much too quickly. In Japan, people use business cards as a conversation starter. You chat about each other's cards and work and do not put theirs away until they gently and respectfully place yours in safekeeping. Putting it carelessly into her jeans pocket was the ultimate disrespect. Then, the fourth horror of horrors was that Geri should not have opened the gift in front of her clients. In a land where saving face is critical, it would be embarrassing to discover the gift they gave was not as nice as the one they received. What is worse, Geri hadn't even given them a gift! In the four Japanese gentlemen's eyes, Geri took their cards _ . A excitedly B embarrassingly C politely D disrespectfully Answer: D. disrespectfully Just like any relationship, best friendships depend on trust, promise, respect and interests. When any of these elements is missing, the friendship will be hard to go on. If the trust is totally broken, you may not be able to forgive him/her. Sometimes a friendship ends because either you or your friend gets tired of putting the heart into it. This can happen when one of you finds a new friend or even a new hobby that takes up much time. Or, perhaps you find the relationship is always going in an unhealthy way and you want some distance. Other times, you simply change and want to leave each other. Sure, it seems sad at the time, but it's completely normal. Not all friendships are meant to last forever. So, what should you do if something like this happens to you? Read on for some friendly advice. Whatever the reason you're breaking up with your best friend, always remember that he/she was once super important to you. Take the time to sit down privately and tell him/her what's going on and why. Don't send him/her an unpleasant e-mail or just start ignoring him/her. In fact, maybe he/she has known there's a problem and would be willing to have a heart-to-heart chat. If you're not sure about wanting an end forever, you could suggest you two take a break from each other. If, after a while, you realize why you became the best friends in the beginning, you can try getting back to your former behaviors. Whatever you do, be honest about your feelings while having respect for his/hers. And if you both agree the _ thing is over, make sure not to be enemies. What is NOT the usual cause of ending a friendship? A Getting tired of putting your heart into each other. B Finding a new hobby that takes up much time. C Realizing the relationship going in an unhealthy way. D Living too far away from each other. Answer: D. Living too far away from each other. Hi!My name is Maria. Now I am in China. My life is busy but very happy. I like reading, so I often go to the library when I have no classes. Who is my favorite teacher? She is Ms. Green. She often helps me with my writing. I work hard at every subject, but my favorite subject is P.E., because I like playing tennis. In the evening, I am busy doing my homework. I often do my homework for two hours. After that, I play the piano for an hour. Sometimes I take a walk with Dad. On weekends I usually help old people with my friends. What about your life? Share it with us, please. Where is Maria ? A In the classroom. B In China. C In Beijing. D In the library. Answer: B. In China. Many people like to eat out because they can eat quickly and the food is not expensive. Some families go to fast food restaurants. But in the past people went to diners. Do you want to know the story of the first American diner? In 1872, a man named Walter Scott had the first "diner". It was not really a diner. It was only a simple food cart . People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. The cart served late-night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs. In 1887, Samuel Messer Jones built the first big enough diner to allow customers to come inside. However, they had no chairs to sit down. Three years later, people built diners with counters and stools and people sat down while they were eating. Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in a diner at any time. Diners changed in other ways, too. The earliest menu which only included sandwiches and coffee became bigger. Soup and dishes were added to the menu, and a breakfast menu appeared, too. In addition, diners were no longer carts on wheels. Diners today are usually buildings with large windows, shining counters and stools, tables and chairs, where people can eat all three meals. Why do many people like to eat out? A Because they can eat quickly. B Because the food outside is more delicious. C Because these people feel bored at home. D Because these people like to be with their friends. Answer: A. Because they can eat quickly.

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