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The name sounds funny but the idea is no joke: it's a personal toilet called the pee-pool, Anders Wilhelmson, a Swedish architect, is the inventor of the pee-pool. He became interested in the idea of sanitation after taking part in a research project on the social and political development of cities, One of the most common problems he found in developing countries was the lack of toilets, He wanted to do something to help, So working with others, he started the project in 2005, and the next year started a company called Peepoolple. The toilet is a single--use bag made of environmentally friendly plastics, The inside is treated with urea , a chemical commonly used as fertilizer, The hotter the weather, the more quickly the waste turns into what is needed by plants The sanitation process can be as soon as a couple of hours or as long as two to four weeks ,You can just bury it in a pot and grow whatever you like. The company expects to start selling the bags in August in Kenya and Bangladesh, But it is just beginning production and sales in Nairobi now, Full production could reach about half a million bags a day and people may be able to buy the pee-pool in countries Vietnam, Bangladesh, etc. The United Nations says more than two and a half billion people around the world do not have good sanitation .Many have no choice but to use the outdoors, which is not only bad for the environment ,but also harmful to people's health, Each year, poor sanitation leads to three fifths of those people getting an infectious disease which on average causes one out of 1,000 patients to die. Jack Smith, the founder of the World Toilet Organization, says " _ is quite an unacceptable situation given the fact that we are living in the modem world, And strangely, many of them own televisions, phones but have no toilet." What was the original purpose of Anders Wilhelmson in starting the company? A To protect the local environment B To earn a lot of money from the project C To do research on the social development D To help solve the problem of lack of toilets in developing countries Answer: D. To help solve the problem of lack of toilets in developing countries I do a lot of hiking.And I can step out of my house and within minutes reach a beautiful forest where I walk for exercise every day.I see many photography subjects such as parrots,snakes,hares,big trees and flowers.There are so many different flowers around my place that once I decided to see how many types I could count in a onehourlong walk,and I counted over 100. Needless to say,as a keen amateur photographer,I always take a camera with me.I have three favorites: a Pentax Optio RZ10,a Sony Alpha 390 and a Panasonic Lumix FZ100.I mostly take the Pentax pocket camera with me.This Pentax pocket camera takes images as good as those from much more expensive Single Lens Reflex cameras.It allows you to get to just 1 cm from the subject,and these images are of astonishing clarity .I can stick the camera right into a flower.And the photo shows fantastic details. The Pentax is also good at taking landscapes.The color is natural and price again the details even of distant objects are great.Sometimes,even when I have one of my other cameras with me,I still just use the Pentax pocket camera.About half of all the images on my website were taken with the Pentax. The Pentax takes quality images in poor light and the zoom works well.You have to work hard to get a blurry shot.This is an especially good feature at parties and gatherings.You get fantastic photos of people.You don't have to wait for them to keep still. Keep this camera in your pocket or in the car.It takes up little room;it's light and you'll never regret it! We can infer from the passage that _ . A the author is a professional photographer B the author took blurry photos at gatherings C the author has put half of his photos on his website D it is good to take a quick photo with the Pentax Answer: D. it is good to take a quick photo with the Pentax June 11,2013 was another big day for Chinese space exploration. Shenzhou X, China's fifth manned spacecraft, was sent into space. Three astronauts, Nie Haisheng, 49, Zhang Xiaoguang, 47, and Wang Yaping, 33, stayed in space for 15 days. Tiangong-1 is China's first space module . It was sent into space in 2011. It will be developed into a large space station around 2020. A space station is a lab for scientific studies.Shenzhou X performed its first docking with Tangong-1 on June 13. It docked twice during the 15 days. The US, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe are working together on the International Space Station (ISS).China wanted to join the ISS but was refused by the US. China decided to build its own space station. Shenzhou X flew around the Tianggong-1 lab for the first time. This was to make sure that spacecraft could dock from more than just one direction. The astronauts carried out repair work and did experiments on the Tiangong-1. Teaching from space Wang Yaping, China's second woman astronaut, taught high school and primary school students about space science. Wang talked about how things move in a micro-gravity environment. This helped the students better understand some physics ideas, like Newton's Law. The lessons aimed to encourage more students to learn about the universe and science. Life up in space The three astronauts followed a work and rest schedule that is similar on the Earth. They had Chinese dishes, such as Kung Pao Chicken and fried rice. The food was kept in special bags. At the time of the Dragon Boat Festival, they had Zongzi. Tiangong-1 is _ which was sent into space in 2011. A a space station B a manned spacecraft C a space module D a space lab Answer: C. a space module Many years ago, I went through a tough time. One afternoon, I picked my girls up. It was late when we returned home. I went to unlock the door and found my key wouldn't go in. I kept trying while my daughter went to get a flashlight. When she returned with it we found somehow the lock had been "stuffed" with sunflower seed shells. Thinking that one of the neighborhood children had been up to no good, I really didn't give it much consideration. I found all windows were locked up tight. So I returned to the back door. Oh my God, I will never forget the shock of that moment. The house was empty! Other than a few things remaining on the back porch, everything was gone! Then I heard a car pull into the driveway and found two policemen walking up. They inquired why I had broken into the house. They then asked me for proof that I lived at that address, so I asked them to wait a minute while I went to get my rent receipt and identification from inside the house. I explained the matter to them and showed them the door lock. I could tell from their actions and tone of voice that they thought I was breaking into an empty house for somewhere to sleep. I asked a neighbor for the phone number of house owner and the officer made a call. The owner was quite shocked to hear my story. She said that my roommate had been going through an eviction process with the court when I moved in with her and had lost the case. She had been ordered to move by 10 am on that date. The court order had been issued the same day I had paid her 1/2 of the rent and a deposit of $300,000. The owner was very kind and understanding but there was nothing she could do. The house had been rented already and the people were to move in the following weekend. The officers let me go and I went to gather my girls into the car. They were both exhausted and old. Also very frightened, because they thought their mamma was going to jail. I had to pull over because the tears took control. I couldn't believe it! Everything we owned was gone, I had used up all our money moving in and paying my "friend" our share of costs. I knew very few people in town, as we had just moved there recently. I went to sit back in the car with the girls, I talked to the girls, explaining our situation to them so that they wouldn't be afraid. During this time there was a "street person" with a bag, looking in the garbage for cans, bottles, and anything that might bring him some cash. But I didn't pay much attention to him. I decided to get the girls something to eat for breakfast. We grabbed some bread, and chips and returned for a "picnic". When we got there, I noticed that the man was not alone. He was with a small group of others like him and they were passing a hat amongst themselves. I was busy setting up our little "picnic" when I heard a voice saying, "MaAm, please excuse... but...well...I overheard the situation you are in, and well... I and the fellows took up a collection for you and your little girls. It's not very much, but maybe it'll help a little." I looked up at this man---dirty, needing a shave ----and saw the face of an angel. I started crying. The man tried to hand me $30. I folded his hand back over the money and just hugged him as tight as I could. I told him, "Thank you for your more than generous offer, but we are going to be just fine." He didn't believe me at first, but I convinced him that it was okay. Later that afternoon I went to the market and bought the making for a barbecue and off to that little park. It didn't take us very long to find those gentlemen and invite them to join us for lunch. I had a wonderful afternoon that day, sitting there with those old guys, singing songs. They had some of the most entertaining stories and they shared the dreams they once had. They shared themselves... from the heart. When the writer came into her house, she must feel _ A excited B confused C shocked D frustrated Answer: C. shocked No one knows for sure when advertising first started. It is possible that it grew out of the discovery that some people did certain kinds of work better than others did them. That led to the concept of specialization, which means that people would specialize, or focus, on doing one specific job. Let's take a man we'll call Mr. Fielder, for example. He did everything connected with farming. He planted seeds, tended the fields, and harvested and sold his crops. At the same time, he did many other jobs on the farm. However, he didn't make the bricks for his house, grind the wheat for his flour, or cut his trees into boards. He also did not make the plows , the work boots, or any of the other hundreds of things a farm needs. Instead, he got them from people who specialized in doing each of those things. Suppose there was another man we shall call Mr. Plowright. Using what he knew about farming and working with iron, Mr. Plowright invented a plow that made farming easier. Mr. Plowright did not really like farming himself and wanted to specialize in making really good plows. Perhaps, he thought, other farmers will trade what they grow for one of my plows. How did Mr. Plowright let people know what he was doing? Why, he advertised, of course. First he opened a shop and then he put up a sign outside the shop to attract customers. That sign may have been no more than a plow carved into a piece of wood and a simple arrow pointing to the shop door. It was probably all the information people needed to find Mr. Plowright and his really good plows. Many historians believe that the first outdoor signs were used about five thousand years ago. Even before most people could read, they understood such signs. Shopkeepers would carve into stone, clay, or wood symbols for the products they had for sale. A medium, in advertising talk, is the way you communicate your message. You might say that the first medium used in advertising was signs with symbols. The second medium was audio, or sound, although that term is not used exactly in the way we use it today. Originally, just the human voice and maybe some kind of simple instrument, such as a bell, were used to get people's attention. A crier, in the historical sense, is not someone who weeps easily. It is someone, probably a man, with a voice loud enough to be heard over the other noises of a city. In ancient Egypt, shopkeepers might hire such a person to spread the news about their products. Often this primitive form of advertising involved a newly arrived ship loaded with goods. Perhaps the crier described the goods, explained where they came from, and praised their quality. His job was, in other words, not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today's world. To advertise his plows, Mr. Plowright _ . A praised his plows in public B placed a sign outside the shop C hung an arrow pointing to the shop D showed his products to the customers Answer: B. placed a sign outside the shop
My cat Toto is aging,and as she ages,her body is failing her.Mentally,she seems sharp,but after nearly sixteen years,Toto's hips are causing her obvious trouble.In fact,they make it so that she can't use a litter box effectively.She tries to squat ,but mostly she just pisses out the back end of the box. I spent the summer working with my vet to find things to help Toto,but nothing works.Since we can't stand the smell of cat urine in the house,two weeks ago I took drastic measures.I _ Toto outside.(She gets to come in while I work,but I put her out for 80%of the day and night.) Because Toto now lives outside,she eats and drinks outside.I' ve set up a heating pad on the porch.and given her own food and water area nearby.She seems perfectly content with this arrangement except when she's out of food,or she wants to be petted. Strangely enough,she's been out of food a lot lately."I think another cat is eating Toto's food."I told Kris when I first noticed how quickly she was going through her bowl. "Actually,"I said a couple of days later,"maybe it's a dog.Whoever is eating Toto's food keeps knocking the bowl over." But a few days after that,I realized that the food thief probably wasn't even a dog.Whatever the critter was,it was messy. Every morning,Toto's water dish was filled with mud.The food bowl was tipped over and the porch scattered with mud and debris ."I' ll bet it's a coon ,"I told Kris.Though we live in a residential neighborhood not far from Portland,we' ve seen plenty of raccoons in the six years since we moved in. Today I got to see the cat-food thievery first-hand.Turns out it's not one raccoon-it's a family of four.I was lucky enough to have my camera handy as they performed their daring raid:My favorite part of this video is how Toto simply sits on her heating pad and watches the raccoons eat her food.She isn't bothered at all. What does the writer like most about what he filmed? A How Toto fought against the raccoons. B A family of raccoons stole the food together. C Toto's casual attitude toward the raccoons. D How the raccoons made the writer's porch dirty. Answer: C. Toto's casual attitude toward the raccoons. Looking good can matter a lot when you are a teenager. Of course the budget matters a lot, too. Luckily, fashion trends in the UK mean that getting the right image doesn't have to _ . Here's a quick guide to which looks are hot this year. For girls, the 70s are back. Wide-legged jeans, platform shoes and skirts that reach the feet are again in fashion among UK teens, topped off with colored, shining eyeshadow. Girls can have fun mixing and matching bright shades. Colors like pink, orange and light yellow-green are all perfectly fit. Shorts and mini-skirts are still popular in cold weather. By wearing a pair of tights underneath ( ..), girls can stay warm as well as fashionable in the winter. How about boys? To look lively, fans of skateboards and snowboards can dress in skinny jeans accompanied by a T-shirt topped off with a baseball cap or a woolen hat. Music is often an inspiration for fashion, and hip-hop music fans like to dress in baggy jeans, T-shirts, baseball caps and sneakers. For those who can afford it, designer clothing is a must, especially if the logo is showing. The author of the passage aims to show teenagers how to _ . A look fashionable B choose brands C spend money when young D stay warm in the winter Answer: A. look fashionable Online shopping is growing fast in China, and more and more Chinese are buying books online. At the same time, traditional bookstores are facing new challenges. A bookstore in Beijing is going out of business . All of its books are on sale. Bookstore owner Wang Jian says hot sales of books on the Internet pushed him to change the way he did business. China has the highest online book buying rate in the world. More than years ago, dangdang.com became the first online bookseller, and now becomes very important in the Chinese online book market. Facing this challenge, the Xinhua Bookstore also built its online store a few years ago. Zhang Jian, CEO of the Xinhuabookstore.com, says now they are enlarging their online services. A "price war "is taking shape between traditional bookstores and online bookstores. Faced with the low-cost advantage of online bookstores, traditional ones can do nothing but lower their prices. At the same time, online bookstores are also starting price wars between each other. Now some traditional bookstores are trying their best to attract buyers in their own way. They exhibit books better and provide a very relaxed reading environment in the bookstore. Even though, traditional bookstores can hardly compete with some of the advantages of online bookstores, for example 24-hour service. What made Wang Jian change the way he did business? A The small sales of his books. B The tiring work of selling books. C The high cost of running the bookstore. D Competition with other traditional bookstores. Answer: A. The small sales of his books. Tu Youyou, 84, honored with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Oct 5, 2015. She was the first Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Prize in science for her work in helping to create an anti-malaria medicine. In 1967, Communist leader Mao Zedong decided there was an urgent national need to find a cure for malaria. At the time, malaria spread by mosquitoes was killing Chinese soldiers fighting Americans in the jungles of northern Vietnam. A secret research unit was formed to find a cure for the illness. Two years later, Tu Youyou was instructed to become the new head of Mission 523. Researchers in Mission523 _ ancient books to find historical methods of fighting malaria. When she started her search for an anti-malarial drug, over 240,000 compounds around the world had already been tested, without any success. Finally, the team found a brief reference to one substance, sweet wormwood , which had been used to treat malaria in China around 400 AD. The team isolated one active compound in wormwood, artemisinin , which appeared to battle malaria-friendly parasites . The team then tested extracts of the compound but nothing was effective until Tu Youyou returned to the original ancient text. After another careful reading, she improved the drug recipe one final time, heating the extract without allowing it to reach boiling point. After the drug showed promising results in mice and monkeys, Tu volunteered to be the first human recipient of the new drug. "As the head of the research group, I had the responsibility." she explained. What can we learn about the discovery of anti-malaria drug? A The process of testing extracts of the compound is very smooth. B No one had ever done any research on it before Tu and her team. C The idea of using wormwood to treat malaria was from ancient Chinese text D Heating the extract until it reaches boiling point is necessary. Answer: C. The idea of using wormwood to treat malaria was from ancient Chinese text President Xi Jinping announced Thursday that China will cut its military by 300,000 troops, a significant reduction in one of the largest militaries in the world and a move that the Chinese leader called a gesture of peace. "The great renewal of the Chinese nation requires efforts of one generation after another," Xi said in a speech at Tiananmen Square remembering the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific. "Having created an impressive civilization of over 5,000 years, the Chinese civilization will lead to an even brighter future," he said. Xi's announcement came as China staged a massive military parade in central Beijing, sending a stream of troops, tanks, and ballistic missiles down a major east-west street as fighter jets flew overhead with multicolored smoke. Xi's speech kicked off the parade. An estimated 12,000 troops--about 1,000 of whom hailed from Belarus, Cuba, Tajikistan, and other countries-marched along the 10-lane Chang'an Avenue from the commercial center wangfujing to Tiannmen Square, about 1.5 miles away. They were joined by 200 fighter jets and 500 pieces of military hardware, including tanks and ballistic missiles. Representatives from 49 countries were in attendance, including Russian leader Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and U. N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Rory Medcalf, head of the national security college at Australian National University, said the Beijing may have decided to cut 300,000 troops "in the name of efficiency and cost saving." Xi conducted a "troop inspection" after his speech, riding down Chan'gan Avenue in a Chinese-made Hongqi parade car. On Thursday morning, China's popular microblogging site Sina Weibo filled up with 350 million comments related to the parade. While many users expressed their love of their country and pride, few posts were filled with criticism. "The soldiers are too serious," wrote one user. Others complained about the cloud of gray exhaust that followed a column of tanks. What is mainly talked about in the passage? A China decided to cut its military forces. B World leaders attended China's military parade. C China sowed its weapons to the world. D China held a military parade in Beijing. Answer: D. China held a military parade in Beijing.
I have some work in Glasgow today. I was on a really tight schedule, which meant I would have no time for myself all day. I was having one of those days, the train was completely packed out and the conversation going on around me seemed to be particularly meaningless. On top of all that, I had a bit a headache. Walking quickly across the hall, I fished some change from my pocket. There was usually someone at the exit selling The Big Issue(a magazine that helps homeless folk earn a living). As the crowd parted ways at the bottom of the hall, I saw someone selling the Big Issue. You had to be homeless to sell the Big Issue. She really looked like she'd been sleeping rough. Her clothes were ragged and she was also rocking from side to side. At first I thought maybe she was trying to keep warm against the biting wind, But she wasn't ,she was moving in time to a tune. I couldn't hear her, but I could see her lips moving. As I got closer, I saw a white cane hanging from her elbow and noticed that she had sunken( ) eyes. She was blind, dirty and living on the streets. I came closer and through the noise of the traffic I heard her sing the immortal line, "--and I think to myself, what a wonderful world!" I bought her last magazine for twice what I'd originally intended. She thanked me, then she picked up her stuff and went tapping off along the pavement--still singing! So, I have my happy memory for the day. And I think it will stay with me a long ,long time. Feel free to borrow it if you like. What's the best title for the passage? A A happy memory to lift you up. B An unforgettable day I experienced. C The roses in her hand, the flavor I have. D A bird in the hand is worth than two in the bush. Answer: A There are 115 distinct species of pine trees with 35 native to North America. Pines are defined as evergreens with long, needle-like leaves and are only native to the northern hemisphere. Pine trees are an adaptable and tough species that can survive in many conditions where other plants cannot. The average pine is 45 to 60 feet tall, but some are nearly twice as high. Western White Pine The western white pine grows the tallest of any pine tree, reaching up to 110 feet in height. They have blue-green needles arranged in bundles of five and produce a long cone . Bristlecone Pine The bristlecone pine grows slowly, reading about 20 feet tall. It is one of the oldest species of pine. Mexican Pine The Mexican pine can grow to 50 feet tall, with long, slender needles that drape off it like a weeping willow . Often nicknamed the "willow pine", it is native to Mexico. Its leaves can droop up to 12 inches long. Sugar Pine The sugar pine is another of the large pine species, such as the bull pine, but it also has the largest cones of any pine species, at 10 to 20 inches long. It grows from Oregon to California and is often used for construction. Jack Pine The jack pine is one of the smallest species of pine with rare leaves. Compared with the pines mentioned above, it doesn't seem to belong to the family. It is considered a member of the scrub-pine family; it prefers sandy soil. We can learn from the passage that _ . A the Mexican pine has the longest leaves B the Jack pine doesn't seem to belong to the same family as the other pine trees C the bull pine is a kind of little pine tree D all the pine trees mentioned have a great number of leaves Answer: B I was feeling a little blue because my mother had been laid off from her job and she had lots of bills to pay. It left me wondering what was going to happen to us now. But it reassured me some when my mother told me she was relieved to be leaving since her boss wasn't the nicest person to be around. I got off the college shuttle bus and started walking. That's when I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people and the traffic. I walked a little slower so I could find out where it was coming from. Through the crowd I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a carriage next to her. She was singing songs about love, keeping on trying, and not underestimating the power within yourself. The way she was singing comforted me a bit. I stood there watching her play for about fifteen minutes, thinking that it must take courage to perform on your own in the middle of a crowded New York ferry terminal. So I stood there listening. She must have felt my presence because she would occasionally look in my direction. By now I was telling myself that if she could perform in front of hundreds of people she didn't know then I could at least tell her how good she sounded. I walked over and put some money in her carriage and she said, "Thank you." Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, "I have been going through a rough time lately, but you've made me hopeful again." "I'm happy that I could help," she replied. "Why are you so sad?" "Well, my mum told me she had got fired from her job, and that made me sad. I'm not so sure what to do ..." "You see, here's the problem," she explained. "The way you were walking, your head was down. Don't look defeated, because opportunity comes in different ways and if your head is down you might never see it. You should smile more ... lift your head up." I smiled faintly, amazed by how she was encouraging me. So, I asked her, "Why are you playing the piano in the middle of a crowded place? I've seen you do this more than once." She explained to me that she sees a lot of negative people in the world and she tries to alleviate the pain and bring more positivity by sharing motivational music. She told me that when she wasn't making music she studied psychology. So, that was how she knew some of the things she was telling me. I smiled a little wider because I knew that she was doing a good thing. So, after that we parted, my heart touched and lightened by a musical soul! Which word may best describe the young lady? A helpful B outgoing C ambitious D humorous Answer: A Thanksgiving is an important festival in North America. We interviewed several students from the US and Canada. Here is what they have told us about their Thanksgiving experiences. Josie from New York, USA "In America, Thanksgiving is celebrated every year at the end of November. It is to remember the first group of people from Europe to live in America. When they first arrived, they found the environment strange. But they learned to survive after some native American friends showed them how to grow and find food. Thanksgiving is meant to be a traditional celebration." Todd from California, USA "Thanksgiving is the first day of Christmas shopping. That means we have four weeks to buy Christmas presents for our families and friends. For me and my friends, the most important part of the festival is the big football game on TV. The match is watched by millions of people all over America. Thanksgiving is seen as an exciting day for football!" Ian from Saskatoon, Canada In Canada, Thanksgiving is held on the 2nd Monday in October. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, many people go to church. Thanks is given for all the good things that happened to them during the year. I always give thanks for the nice big turkey I'm going to have at the family dinner! Like all festivals, Thanksgiving is about food! Katie from Maritimes, Canada On Thanksgiving Day, we have dinner with all our cousins, aunts and uncles. It is always very busy. Sometimes we have two Thanksgiving dinners because we go to both our grandparents' houses. The dinner is usually attended by more than twenty people at each house! My mother and my aunts do all the cooking but the washing-up is done by me and my cousins. And that's not an easy job! But I don't mind because Thanksgiving is meant to be a time to give thanks. Where does the person who thinks that Thanksgiving is a traditional celebration come from? A New York B California C Saskatoon D Maritimes Answer: A India has a population of 1.27 billion. Its population is the second largest in the world. China has the largest population of over 1.36 billion. One out of six people on this planet live in India. Although, the crown of the world's most populous country is on China's head for ten years. India will take the _ by 2030. With the population growth rate at 1.58%, India will have more than 1.53 billion people by the end of 2030. Now more than 50% of India's population is below the age of 25 and over 65% below the age of 35. About 72.2% of the population lives in some 638,000 villages. Some of the reasons for India's quickly growing population are poverty, illiteracy , decrease in death rates and immigration from Bangladesh and Nepal. India started taking measures to stop the growth rate quite early. India had the "National Family Planning Program" in 1952. It became the first country in the world to have a population policy. However, it failed to reach the final goal . Over 65% of India's population is below the age of _ . A 25 B 35 C 45 D 55 Answer: B
Like most cultures around the world, the Zulu people of Africa tell stories that have animals as heroes. These stories are meant to have fun, but they are also used to teach important lessons to children. This is one of those stories. One hot afternoon, Jackal was walking along the rocky road sniffing the ground. He was hoping to smell a mouse or a lizard , or something else that would be good to eat. He was so much lost in sniffing that he wasn't really paying attention to what was around himself. Suddenly, Jackal looked up to see his neighbor, Lion, walking straight toward him. He did not have enough time to run way. Jackal had played many tricks on Lion over the years, so he knew he would be in trouble if he was caught. Jackal needed to think of something quickly. "Help! Help!" cried Jackal as he quickly jumped upon a large rock hanging over the road. "The rocks are falling down, and I can't hold them much longer. We shall both be crushed if you do not do your best to hold these rocks back, Lion" At once, Lion pushed his strong shoulder against the rocks to keep them from moving any further. "I'll just run over here to get something to stop the rocks." shouted Jackal as he ran way to safety. Lion stayed _ against the unmoving rocks for quite a long time before he realized that Jackal had tricked him yet again! Why was Jackal sniffing the ground? Answer: Concepts from science and nature are filled with our language's common phrases , idioms and spoken expressions. The unbelieving expression "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle" has its origin in bitter disbelief over Darwin's writings on evolution. These colourful expressions bring spice to our language. Yet certain well-used phrases from science are just plain wrong! Some are obvious, yet we use them anyhow. For example, a person who acutely shakes her head and says " A watched pot never boils" while you are waiting second after tiring second for test results to arrive or job offers to come in knows that if she sat down and watched a pot containing water on a stove over high heat for long enough, the water will eventually boil. However, a few phrases have less obvious scientific inaccuracies. Here are a few for you to consider. Once in a blue moon: This poetic phrase refers to something that occurs extremely rarely. A blue moon is the term commonly used for a second full moon that occasionally appears in a single month of our solar-based calendars. The problem with the phrase, however, is that blue moons are not so rare. They happen every few years at least, and can even happen within months of each other when the 29.5-day lunar cycle puts the full moon at the beginning of any month but February. The usage of "blue moon" as the second full moon in a month dates back to a 1937 Marine Farmer's Almanac . But before that, blue moons meant something slightly different. Typically, 12 full moons occur from winter solstice to the next winter solstice, but occasionally a fourth full moon in a season could be observed . In such a case, one of the four full moons in that season was known as "blue" Where there's smoke, there's fire: The phrase means that if something looks wrong, it likely is wrong. But let's step back. Do you always have to have fire if you see smoke? Answering that first requires defining 'fire" , Merriam--Webster's first definition of fire is " the phenomenon of combustion manifested in light, flame and heat". Combustion is the chemical reaction that occurs when fuel is burned in the presence of oxygen---denying a fire any of these three things will stop the fire; attempting to start a fire without any one of the three things will be impossible. In complete combustion---what occurs when you light a gas stove--- the fire produces no smoke. However, when most materials are burned, they have incomplete combustion, which means that the fire isn't able to completely burn all of the fuel . Smoke, then, can be considered to be a product of pyrolysis rather than of fire itself. You're probably thinking---so what? To get the smoke, a fire needed to be present at some point, right? Not always. Diamonds are forever: Thanks to the DeBeers slogan , decorating your honey's neck, wrists and fingers with diamonds means true and timeless love. Of course, no object that you can hold in your hand can last forever. But diamonds have a special reason for being incapable of timelessness. Without the extreme pressures of the deep Earth where they formed, a diamond will slowly turn back into graphite , which is why the older a diamond is, the more inclusions it's likely to have. What common phrases _ when viewed under the microscope of science? Are you curious about the hidden knowledge of some " big" phrases ? Or perhaps you have the ability to uncover the secret of some unscientific phrases? Let us know! What can be concluded from the passage? Answer: Last year, a report by a committee of education experts said that a lot of American students cannot write well. The report noted the concerns of business leaders and teachers. The experts said that more students should have to pass a writing test before they can finish high school. They pointed out that major college entrance tests are changing now to include a writing part. Educators know that teaching students to write well is not easy. One problem is the amount of time needed to read through large amounts of work. So some companies have developed computer programs. These can grade student writing much more quickly than a person can. Writing tests can also cost less to carry out by computer than paper-and-pencil. These computer systems are known as e-readers. They use artificial intelligence to think in a way like teachers. In the state of Indiana, computer grading of a statewide writing test began with a test of the system itself. For two years, both a computer and humans graded the student writing. Officials say there was almost no difference between the computer grades and those given by the human readers. The entrance test commonly used by business schools, the GMAT, already uses e-readers. The GRE and TOEFL tests might start; officials are deciding. The GRE is the Graduate Record Examination. TOEFL is the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Systems are also being used to grade writing in college classes. The computers read a few hundred examples of student writing already graded by humans. Then the systems compare new writings against those already examined. How do teachers feel all about this? Many say machines can never do the job as well as people can. A computer can find spelling and grammar mistakes. But these teachers say it can never really understand what a writer is trying to say. Critics say a program cannot follow a thought or judge humor or understand a beautifully expressed idea. But inventors of the programs say computer grading guarantees that each piece of writing is graded in the same way. They also say the systems are meant to judge knowledge more than creativity. Which of the following is NOT the advantage of e-readers? Answer: When does music in public places become noise pollution? You may like at least some kind of music. But the problem is that, in lots of places, you're made to hear somebody else's choice in music. Say you've just landed at an airport. At the airport, the "background" music may be played loudly. When you are on the way to your hotel, there may be another kind of music played by the taxi driver. Then you finally reach your hotel. But when you are taking the elevator ,there is elevator music. You go out to dinner and end up in a place where the owner of the restaurant thinks music will help make you eat more and spend more. Then a person playing the violin comes around. This is called the "music wallpaper". It is to make you buy more and eat a lot. Even the government thinks this is "noise pollution," especially when the music is too loud. Noise pollution may be bad for our hearing. It's also bad for some of our daily activities, such as sleeping, conversations and so on. The fact that you can't see, taste or smell it may help explain why it has not received as much attention as other kinds of pollution, such as air pollution or water pollution. The air around us is always filled with sounds, but most of us would not think we are surrounded by noise. This can be bad for our health. So many people like soft and quiet music in their house. Music in public places becomes noise pollution because _ . Answer: Your weight has been important since the moment you were born. Maybe you even know what your birth weight was. Most newborns weigh between 6 and 9 pounds, but some may weigh more and some less. But very quickly, a baby gains weight and everyone is glad about that because it means the child is growing bigger and stronger. As you get older, your weight is still important. It's something your parents and doctor will probably keep an eye on. When you go for a checkup, the doctor often will record your height and weight and compare it with what it was the last time you came in. The doctor wants to check whether you have a healthy weight because weighing too much or too little can be a problem. But these days, being overweight is more common than being underweight. In the last 30 years, a growing number of kids and teenagers have developed weight problems. Today, 1 out of 3 kids and teens between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight. Many grown-ups understand what it's like to have weight problems, since 2 out of every 3 adults are overweight..wfsqzkss. For kids and adults, weighing too much can lead to illnesses and health problems. And a kid who is overweight might be made jokes on or find it hard to keep up with friends on the playground. When people talk about being overweight, they mean that someone has more body fat than is healthy. Everyone has some body fat, but extra fat can influence someone's health and ability to walk, run, and get around, as well as how the person looks and his or her self-respect. Why is everyone happy hearing a baby become fatter? Answer:
Newcastle, one of the fastest developing cities in the United Kingdom, is beginning to draw tourists from all corners of Europe. It's said most visitors come here to see the famous soccer team play. The mood of the locals is often changed by the success or failures of the local team. Newcastle's most popular place is the Gate, which is in the center of the city and has many attractions including bars, restaurants, sports bars, pubs and so on. During a home game it becomes a real home to happiness. Culture and local history lovers can make their dreams come true by taking one of the local city tour buses. _ come and leave every few minutes and stop at all the important historical sites in the city. Also the seats and the environment on the buses are comfortable. It's the best way to see the city without tiring yourself out or getting cold. Places such as the Hancock Museum and Millennium Bridge are must-see attractions. But be careful if you're short of time. Newcastle is a big place, so you should be prepared to kill a few hours on one of these buses. If you want to watch the local team play soccer in the St. James Park, remember to book a ticket as early as possible. The locals are crazy soccer fans, and you'll find it hard to get a ticket if you don't wait in the queue early. As you can see, Newcastle is a fantastic city with so much to be offered and so many things to see. You're sure to have a wonderful time here! Most visitors come to Newcastle in order to _ . In ancient Greece,there were four major athletic meetings and the Olympian meeting played the most important part in the lives of the people. As time passed,the Olympian meeting gradually lost its local character and became first a national event and then international. No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic Games go but some official records date from 776 BC. The Games took place every four years on the plain by Mount Olympus. Thousands of people came from all parts of the Greek world to watch the games. The winner of the foot race had the great honor of giving his name to the year of his history. After a long history of almost 1,200 years,the Games were stopped for religious reasons. It was then decided in 1896 to start the Olympic Games again. The meeting was held in Athens and 311 athletes from 13 countries took part in it but the idea of such an international meeting attracted the world's attention. After the 1908 London Olympics,many nations sent their best athletes. Although the Games have been time and again threatened by some unfavorable political events, the Games have taken place every four years. Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn. As the biggest international gathering of any kind in the world,athletes from different countries play games together and this provides them with good chances to learn to live together. The friendly feelings in the Olympic Village make people think of the world as one big family. The Olympic Games will be hosted in Beijing in 2008. It is believed that the Games will be a wonder of the world. The Olympic Games meeting finally formed _ . If the trees in an area are growing in soil rich with a certain vitamin, what might happen? Mayday is a rock band from Taiwan that was formed in the late 1990s with five members, namely ,Ashin (vocalist), Monster and Stone (guitars), Masa (bass) and Guan You (drums). Formerly making music under the name of So Band, they officially came to be known as Mayday in 1997, with the name originating from Masa's online nickname. Mayday's songs are written mostly in Min Nan (Taiwanese dialect) and Mandarin . They are popular for capturing the zeitgeist of Taiwanese youth in the 1990s which was an era of dreams, growing up, loneliness, love and disaffection. Mayday has made no secret of its admiration of the Beatles whom they cite(...)as influencing their ideals of rock music.The eighth track of their fifth album has a track called John Lennon where the band espouses its dreams to become the "Beatles of the Chinese World"and one day, to become better than them. Other diverse musical influences include the Irish band U2, the British band Oasis, the Japanese pop music artists Mr. Children, Sting as well as the Chinese rocker Wu Bai and China Blue. In lyrics on recent albums, Ashin has alluded( )to several cultural icons notably the Chinese mythical monkey-god Sun Wu-Kong, Mickey Mouse, Superman, Neil Armstrong and Che Guevara. Ashin has also cited movies and novels as inspiration for his songs including "Viva Love"which was inspired by avant-garde Taiwanese director Tsai Ming Liang's 1994 movie, Vive L'Amour and the song "Armour" which was influenced by a Chinese drama Crystal Boys and Haruki Murakami's novel, Kafka On the Shore. Mayday has had a history of _ years up to now. English is an important global language, but that doesn't mean it's easy to learn. Many experts have tried to make English easier for students to learn--but they weren't always successful. In 1930, Professor CK Ogden of Cambridge University invented Basic English. It had only 850 words (and just eighteen verbs) and Ogden said most people could learn it in just thirty hours. The problem was that people who learned Basic English could write and say simple messages, but they couldn't understand the answers in "real" English! It was also impossible to explain a word if it wasn't in the Basic English word list. For example, if you wanted a watermelon, you asked for "a large green fruit with the form of an egg, which has a sweet red inside and a good taste"! RE Zachrisson, a university professor in Sweden, decided that the biggest problem for learners of English was spelling, so he invented a language called Anglic. Anglic was similar to English, but with much simpler spelling. "Father" became "faadher", "new" became "nue' and "years" became "yeerz". Unfortunately for some students of English, Anglic never became popular. Even easier is the language which ships' captains use: it's called "Seaspeak". Seaspeak uses a few simple phrases for every possible situation. In Seaspeak, for example, you don't say, "I'm sorry what did you say?" or "I didn't understand, can you repeat that?" It's just "Say again." No more grammar! In the age of international communication through the Internet who knows? ... a new form of English might appear. A large number of the world's e-mails are in English and include examples of "NetLingo" like OIC (Oh, I see) and TTYL (Talk to you later). In another fifty years, English might not exist ... we will probably all speak fluent Internetish! According to Professor Zachrisson, what was the biggest problem for learners of English?
Question: Scientists have proved that sleeping and learning go hand in hand. Even a short nap can boost our memory and sharpen our thinking. But the relationship goes deeper than that. "The brain is not passive while you sleep," scientist Anat Arzi said. "It's quite active. You can do many things while you are asleep." Arzi and her coworkers didn't try to teach the sleeping volunteers any complex information, like new words or facts. Instead, the scientists taught volunteers to make new connections between smells and sounds. When we smell something good, like a flower, we take deep breaths. When we smell something bad, we take short breaths. Arzi and her co-workers based their experiment on these reactions. Once the volunteers fell asleep in the lab, the scientists went to work. They gave them a whiff of something pleasant and meanwhile played a particular musical note. They didn't wake up, but they heard--and sniffed deeply. Then the scientists gave the volunteers a whiff of something terrible and played a different musical note. Again, the volunteers heard and smelled--a short snort this time--but didn't wake up. The researchers repeated the experiment. After just four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their paired smells. When the scientists played the musical tone that went with good smells, the sleepers breathed deeply. And when the scientists played the musical tone that went with bad smells, the sleepers breathed briefly--despite there being no bad smell. The next day, the volunteers woke up with the sound-smell connection. They breathed deeply when hearing one tone and cut their breaths short when hearing the other, which must have been unusual for them. Imagine walking down the street and taking a deep breath upon hearing a particular sound! When the volunteers woke up the next day, they _ . A. learned how to play to musical tones B. forgot what happened during their sleep C. continued with the sound-smell connection D. changed their reaction when hearing. Answer: C. continued with the sound-smell connection Question: One should be moderate ( ) in all things. Moderation is always the safest way to do things, and a virtue we should have. Let's take the student life for example. There are some students who study too hard and play too little, while there are others who play too much and study too little. On the one hand, it is harmful to his health if he has too few physical exercises, and on the other hand, it is harmful to his mind if he plays too much. In the matter of eating, one also should be moderate. Do not eat too much or too little. Too much eating will make you sick, while too little eating will make you weak. The man of progress is he who neither has too high an opinion of himself nor thinks too poorly of himself. If he thinks too highly of himself, he is surely to become very proud, but if he has too poor an opinion of himself, he will have no courage to make an advance. Both the conditions above will make you lose your aim in life. A broadminded man is he who always moves within the orbit of reasonableness . In any activities in one's life, moderation is one of the best ways to enjoy real happiness. In the passage the writer suggests that a student should _ . A. only study hard without any time to play B. spend most of his time playing different games C. have much more time to study than to play D. correctly arrange his time for study and play Answer: D. correctly arrange his time for study and play Question: Eight Things a Burglar Won't Tell You Should you spend your money on a home security system? A look inside a burglar's mind might help you decide. 1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator. 2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in your home, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier. 3. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it's an invitation which I am more than happy to accept. 4. If it snows while you're out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house, or it will be _ By the way, loud dogs and nosy neighbors are the two things I hate most. 5. It's raining, you're fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door---understandable. But understand this: I don't take a day off because of bad weather. 6. Do you really think I won't look in your sock drawer? I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet . Here's a helpful hint: I almost never go into kids' rooms. 7. You're right: I won't have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it's not fastened, I'll take it with me. 8. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook.com page. It's easier than you think to look up your address. The main purpose of the article is to _ . A. summarize when burglars steal most frequently B. encourage people to spend money on home security systems C. explain why burglars take up stealing D. teach people how to protect their homes Answer: D. teach people how to protect their homes Question: How many hours do you spend sitting in a chair every day? Eight hours in the office plus three hours in front of the TV after work is the norm for many people. You probably don't need an expert to tell you that sitting too much is not good for your health--from an increased risk of heart disease and obesity in the long term,to reduced cholesterol maintenance in the short term,not to mention the strain on your neck and spine. To make matters worse,many researches show a good diet and regular exercise call't reduce the negative effects of sitting too much. A 2010 study of nearly 9,000 Australians found that for each additional hour of television a person watched per day,the risk of dying rose by 11 percent.Another study tracked the health of 123,000 Americans between 1992 and 2006.The death rate for men who spent six hours or more per day sitting was about 20 percent higher than for men who sat for three hours or less. So what can we do about it? Health experts suggest we break up those many hours spent sitting with more hours spent standing. The BBC conducted a simple experiment with a group of 10 volunteers who usually spent most of the day sitting.They were asked to stand for at least three hours a day.The researchers took measurements Oil days when the volunteers stood,and when they sat around.When they looked at the data there were some striking differences,the BBC reported. Blood sugar leveled off much quicker on the days when the study subjects stood compared with the days they spent in a chair.Standing also burned more calories----about 50 calories an hour.A member said although doing exercise offers many proven benefits,our bodies also need the increase in muscle activity that standing provides. The researchers believe that even small adjustments,like standing while talking on the phone,will help. What would be the best title for the text? A. Having regular exercise B. Standing up for health C. Watching less TV D. Increasing muscle activity Answer: B. Standing up for health Question: A gust of wind blew a canvas chair across the yard. My eyes followed the circling dirt out to the road and down toward the school bus stop. I was going to miss walking down the road to catch the big school bus that took us into town to school. I enjoyed being with the teachers and the other students. Now that I was finished with school I seemed to have lost some of the excitement from my life. As I was folding the canvas chair, Chatita Chavez drove into our yard in her father's old truck. It made short loud sounds and sent out a trail of black smoke out of its tailpipe. She got out smiling as usual and excitedly pointed toward the storm that seemed to be moving toward us. "I can't stay long, Nilda. There's a storm coming and I need to beat it home." I was glad to see her. "Yes, I think we're in for some bad weather. Come on in and have a cup of coffee at least," I said as I took her into our kitchen. "I'm so excited, Nilda! You'll never guess what I just did!" I stopped pouring the coffee and turned and looked at her. "I just went over to Edinburg and registered for junior college," she said and looked at me and smiled. "Don't you want to go take classes with me?" I was astonished. I didn't know what to say. How could I go to college? I didn't have any money. I gave Chatita a cup of coffee. "I don't know. I don't think I can. Isn't college expensive?" Chatita sat down at the table and began adding sugar to her coffee. "Not really, and I'm working part-time at the packing shed on Canal Road. You could work there, too." The wind began to gust causing the house to occasionally make sounds and shake. The lightbulb hanging over the table flashed off and on and I heard a low roll of thunder in the distance. I hesitantly asked, "Do you think I could get a job at the packing shed?" "Sure. My cousin is the boss. He'll give you a job." Mama came into the kitchen and exchanged greetings with Chatita. She must have heard our conversation. "I think it's nice that you're going to go to college, Chatita. What will you study?" my mother asked as she joined us at the table. "I want to be a teacher." "A teacher! How nice!" Mama said as she patted Chatita's arm. "A teacher?" I asked. "Don't you need a degree?" "You can start teaching before you get your degree. Clarence Duncan has been teaching in Brownsville since last year and I think Zulema will start this year." The lightbulb blinked again and went out. Mama quickly arose from the table. "I'm going to have to bring in the lanterns. I knew I shouldn't have packed them away." "Well, Nilda, do you want to go? Because, if you do, you can go over to Edinburg with me tomorrow." I hesitated, then said, "Yes. I want to go." My heart was beating fast. I couldn't believe how happy I was feeling. "But I have to talk to Mama and Papa. What if they won't let me?" "You can at least go with me tomorrow and find out what it's all about. I'll come by for you around eight." Chatita left me sitting at the table staring at my cup of coffee. It seemed so unreal, this idea of me going to college. My parents had never had the opportunity for much education. Juana had quit school to get married and Roberto and Zeke had graduated from high school as I had. But college? I would be the first one in my family to go to college. Yes, college was exactly what I wanted. The day had turned dark and the rain had started. My mother came back into the kitchen with two lanterns. "Mama, I need to ask you something." She picked up a cloth and began to clean the dust from the lanterns. She looked at me and smiled. "Mama, if I could find a way to pay, could I take classes at the junior college?" I asked, trying to control my excitement. She stopped cleaning and raised her eyebrows. "What would you study, my daughter?" "I think I want to be a teacher," I quietly replied. Mama sat down at the table across from me. "Then, I would like for you to go to college," she said in a serious tone. "What about Papa? Do you think he will allow me to go?" "Your father wants you to be happy. If going to college and being a teacher makes you happy, then he will probably allow it," she answered. I didn't say anything. I was enjoying the feeling of happiness and sense of wonder that had come over me. The two of us sat in the darkened room without speaking until I saw my mama rubbing her eyes with the edge of her apron. "What's wrong, Mama." "Nothing," she replied. "I probably got some dust in my eyes. That's all." This story is told from the point of view of _ . A. Chatita B. Mama C. Nilda D. Papa Answer: C. Nilda
In our world today, the media and entertainment industries are constantly focusing on beauty over brains. Movies, television shows, commercials, and magazines all make use of models and actors whose physical attributes will sell their product. As our country is trying to reduce the obesity numbers, eating disorder statistics continue to increase due to the push for thinner people. While obesity is a serious medical condition that can lead to many health problems, many of us try to lose weight for appearance purposes. Children as young as elementary school age have begun to worry about _ . In my opinion, it seems that "fat" has become the new"ugly". Two weeks ago, 37-year-old Wisconsin television reporter Livingston, who is 235 pounds, received an email from a man named Krause. In the email Krause attacked her, writing,"Your physical condition hasn't improved for many years. Surely you don't consider yourself a suitable example for this community's young people, girls in particular." Today, it seems that a vast majority of people care more about how they look and appear to their peers rather than what is inside. The truth is that every person is built differently; we all come in different shapes and sizes. Just because someone is heavier, that doesn't mean they eat large amounts of junk food around the day. Likewise, even though a person is thin, that doesn't mean they are necessarily healthy and fit. If you are reading this and you struggle with your weight or your appearance, please recognize that you are beautiful and special in your own way. You are worth so much more than you realize, and even if I don't know you, understand that I respect and support you. Beauty is not defined by size; it is defined by how we treat others and respect ourselves. In the words of the talented film actress Kirstie Alley, "There's a lot more to life than how fat or thin you are." With so many people losing weight, it will end in _ In March 2014, Australia opened junior high education to Chinese students, allowing them to study in Australian schools from the seventh grade. "When more Chinese students are going to study abroad at a younger age, the opening of Australian junior high schools offers Chinese students and their parents one more good choice," Tian Litie, director of the Australian Department of Chivast Education International, said at the China International Education Exhibition Tour over the weekend. Australia will see a rise in the number of Chinese junior and senior high school students studying in the country. Tian showed the reasons for it: lower admission requirements and low-cost education because of a favorable exchange rate . According to Tian, in public schools in Australia a student should pay A$13,000 to A$15,000 ($10,000 to $12,000) a year. "Now the exchange rate of the Australian dollar to renminbi is below five, which means the cost is lower than that of Chinese students studying at junior and senior high schools in many other hot places, such as Britain and the US," said Tian. Lin Lina from Beijing plans to send her daughter to a senior high school in Australia, was among them. "My daughter is good at English and would like to study abroad early," said Lin, whose daughter is now a ninth-grader in Beijing. "We came for more information after we learned that the environment and education in Australia are good." Eliza Chui, education officer for North Asia at the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai, said that Australia is attractive not only because it provides an environment for learning English, but also because students are trained to have critical thinking and be independent. Lin Lina plans to send her daughter to Australia because _ . It was a sunny holiday Monday. Olivier Ferrante was cooking sausages on the barbecue and entertaining friends in his garden north of Paris when the phone rang. The call came from the BEA, France's air accidents investigation bureau , where the 38-year-old former football player and driver was an investigator. The news was grim. "An Airbus is missing over the Atlantic: we need you." As a safety investigator,Ferrante and his teams had participated, directly and indirectly,in the recovery of crashed planes from the Red Sea, the Black Sea,and every ocean. But this investigation would be his toughest ever: the plane had disappeared without a witness, or a trace on radar . At least eight ships and a dozen military aircraft gathered on the plane's last known position, about halfway between Brazil and Western Africa. After six days the aircraft's tail fin and 50 bodies were spotted on the surface and the first burning questions were answered. The plane wreckage and passenger injuries indicated the doomed Airbus was unbroken when it hit the water. It was not exploded apart by a bomb or lightning, now broken up by violent weather. Strangely, no mayday message had been sent by its pilots. Ferrante worked energetically with his team:collecting offers of help from around the world, consulting navy ministries and research organizations in France and elsewhere, and contracting suitable ships and high-tech equipment. He would not return home for another 29 days. His team used the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle(AUV) operated around the clock, searching about 400 square kilometers a day. But the race against time was lost and no signals were heard and no more wreckage was found. Day after day, the screen remained bare except for objects that turned out to be stones or garbage from ships. Stressed by media attention and painful meetings with victims' s,Ferrante went jogging one day to clear his head. Then he had an idea. He decided to look at what had happened to nine other planes that crashed after something abruptly went wrong while flying at high altitude. He found that none had traveled more than 30 km before hitting the sea; most covered less than half that distance. AUV operations continued but now they focused on a 30 km circle around the plane's last known position. On the ninth day of the new-strategy searching, after searching for 22 months, their hard work paid off finally. The first thing they saw was a woman's handbag. Next,they saw bits of twisted aircraft parts and a panel with "AF" painted on it. Without a doubt,this was the missing Aribus,lying 11 km northeast of its last known position, but nobody felt much like cheering the discovery. "The screen also exposed well-preserved human bodies,and for some of us they were hard to look at," says Ferrante. What made it take so long a time to find the missing Airbus? Years after throwing a bottle-up note into a lake for a class project and just one year after his death, a man's childhood message was found and returned to his mother. Eleven years ago, a then 10-year-old boy, Joshua Baker, wrote the message, folded and put it in an empty container, his mother, Maggie Holbrook said. He died last February in a motor vehicle accident in California. He had recently returned after a serving in the Middle East as a US marine. "I think he was just letting us know he was OK and keep doing what we are doing." Holbrook said. The message surfaced in White Lake in late April, just days after the 11th anniversary of its being thrown into the lake. It was found by one of Baker's closest friends, Steve Lieder, she said. Lieder and two friends were chatting near the lake when Lieder looked down and saw the bottle. He broke it open and found the note inside. "My name is Joshua Baker. I am 10. If you find this, put it on the news. The date is 4/16/98." They immediately took it to Holbrook, who said she is now having the note preserved and will display it in her home. She can remember when her son wrote the message for the school project. She said she always wondered why he didn't put it in the nearby Wolf River, which has a much stronger current. "I still remember the day he wrote it, " Holbrook said. "I couldn't understand why he threw I in the lake. No one would never see it again. Now I know." The best title for this passage would be _ . British men are abandoning(,) their stiff (, )upper lips but still do not wear their hearts on their sleeves like Americans, a new survey showed. When it comes tostrong emotion, the onceseriousBritish are now happy to shed tears quite openly. "Thirty percent of all British males have cried in the last month. That is a very high figure," said Peter Marsh, director of the Social Issues Research Center which took the emotional temperature of Britain. "Only two percent said they could not remember when they last cried," the head of the independent research group said. Long gone is the "No Tears -- We're British" time when emotion was considered distinctly bad form. "In our survey of 2,000 people, very few people in their forties or fifties had seen their father cry. Now it is twice as many," he told reporters. "Seventy-seven percent of men considered crying in public increasingly acceptable." Almost half the British men opened the floodgatesover a sad movie, book or TV program. Self-pity got 17 percent crying. Nine percent cried at weddings. From the days of Empire, the British have always considered themselves models of reserve , laughing at "excitable foreigners" who show no self-control. Marsh argued the divide was still there: "We have probably not caught up with the Americans or the Italians when it comes to the actual display of emotions." "But we are clearly changing. What we take as typical British reserve has significantly faded " Women's battle for equal rights has certainly had an effect -- both in the workplace and at home. "Men in their twenties or thirties are interacting with women on equal terms much more than a generation ago. They have to relate to the opposite sex. Women become more man-like and men become more female. That transfers into the work place too," Marsh said. The British used to think crying in public _ .
Question: US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey surprised 300 members of her audience by saying she would send them on a trip to Australia in December.Winfrey will also film an episode of her show at the Sydney "Oprah" House. The Australian government said it was spending AUS$ 3 million to help bring The Oprah Winfrey Show to the country. Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson insisted it was money well spent as it would put Australia in the spotlight,with the popular TV show watched by 40 million Americans and screened in 145 countries."Oprah is a famous name and she has the power to improve Australia's image as an important tourist country," he said in a statement. Winfrey made the announcement on Monday.After telling the audience that she might take them on a trip to New York,Philadelphia or Los Angeles,she said her last season would provide something "bigger". "I started to think about where I would most want to go.Maybe I should take all of you with me to the other side of the world.We're going to Australia!"she said. Several episodes will be filmed during the trip,which had been planned for almost a year and will take in beaches,Sydney Harbour and so on.It marks the first time that the show will be filmed with its US audience outside North America.The Australian trip follows a similar act in 2004 when Winfrey gave a car to each member of her audience. Winfrey is to start her own television channel ,the Oprah Winfrey Network,in 2011,at the age of her 57. What might be the best title for the text? A. Oprah Winfrey takes audience to Australia B. Australians love to see The Oprah Winfrey Show C. Americans want to know more about Australia D. Oprah Winfrey will start her own channel Answer: A. Oprah Winfrey takes audience to Australia Question: Two friends have an argument that bleaks up their friendship forever, even though neither one can remember how the whole thing got started. Such sad events happen over and over in high schools across the country. In fact, according to an official report on youth violence, "In our country today, the greatest threat to the lives of children and adolescents is not disease or starvation or abandonment, but the terrible reality of violence". Given that this is the case, why aren't students taught to manage conflict the way they are taught to solve math problems, drive cars, or stay physically fit? First of all, students need to realize that conflict is unavoidable. A report on violence among middle school and high school students indicates that most violent incidents between students begin with a relatively minor insult . For example, a fight could start over the fact that one student eats a peanut butter sandwich each lunchtime. Laughter over the sandwich can lead to insults, which in turn can lead to violence. The problem isn't in the sandwich, but in the way students deal with the conflict. Once students recognize that conflict is unavoidable, they can practice the golden rule of conflict resolution stay calm. Once the student feels calmer, he or she should choose words that will calm the other person down as well. Rude words, name-calling, and accusation only add fuel to the emotional fir On the other hand, soft words spoken at a normal sound level can put out the fire before it explodes out of control. After both sides have calmed down, they can use another key strategy for conflict resolution; listening. Listening allows the two sides to understand each other. One person should describe his or her side, and the other person should listen without interrupting. Afterward, the listener can ask non-threatening questions to clarify the speaker's position. Then the two people should change roles. Finally, students need f. consider what they are hearing. This doesn't mean trying to figure out what's wrong with the other person. It means understanding what the real issue is and what both sides are trying to accomplish. For example, a shouting match over a peanut butter sandwich might happen because one person thinks the other person is unwilling to try new things. Students need to ask themselves questions such as these: How did this start? What do I really want? What am I afraid off As the issue becomes clearer, the conflict often simply becomes smaller. Even if it doesn't, careful thought helps both sides figure out a mutual solution. There will always be conflict in schools, but that doesn't mean there needs to be violence. After students in Atlanta started a conflict resolution program, according to Educators for Social Responsibility, "64 percent of the teachers reported less physical violence in the classroom; 75 percent of the teachers reported an increase in student cooperation; and 92 percent of the students felt better about themselves". Learning to resolve conflicts can help students deal with friends, teachers, parents, bosses, and coworkers. In that way, conflict resolution is a basic life skill that should be taught in schools across the country. The writer's purpose for writing this article is to _ . A. complain about problems in school education B. teach students different strategies for school life C. advocate teaching conflict management in schools D. inform teachers of the latest studies on school violence Answer: C. advocate teaching conflict management in schools Question: There once was a pumpkin. The pumpkin was sad. The pumpkin wanted to leave the garden and see the world. But the pumpkin had to stay in the garden because its vine held it there. One day a fox came by. The pumpkin asked the fox to cut the vine so the pumpkin could leave the garden. The fox said it would cut the vine so the pumpkin could leave the garden. When the fox cut the vine the pumpkin could roll around. The pumpkin rolled around until it got out of the garden. First it met a cat. It told the cat it was happy because now it could see the world. The cat gave the pumpkin a piece of cake to eat. The pumpkin could not eat the cake because it had no mouth but it was still very happy to have the cat as a new friend. How did the pumpkin escape the garden? A. the person who owned the garden let it go B. it used cake to get out C. a fox cut the vine D. a cat freed it Answer: C. a fox cut the vine Question: In American schools there is something called Homecoming. Many high schools and colleges with a football team have a Homecoming game. This can be the most important event of the year except graduation or commencement day. Students plan Homecoming for many weeks in advance. Several days before Homecoming, students start to decorate the school. There are signs to wish luck to the team, and many other signs to welcome all the graduates. Many people still come to Homecoming twenty or thirty years after their graduation. The members of school clubs build booths and sell lemonade, apples and sandwiches. Some clubs help to welcome visitors. During the day people like to look for teachers that they remember from long ago. Often they see old friends and they talk together about those happy years in school. Everyone soon comes to watch the football game. When the game is half over, the band comes onto the field and plays school songs. Another important moment is when the Homecoming Queen or King appears. All the students _ a most popular student Homecoming Queen or King. It is a great honor to be chosen. Homecoming is a happy day, but it is not perfect unless the football team wins the game. Even if the team loses, the students still enjoy Homecoming. Some stay at the school to dance, and others go to a party. For everyone it is a day worth remembering. The most important event of the year in high schools and colleges is _ . A. Homecoming B. the football game C. graduation D. winning the game Answer: C. graduation Question: Until she was six, Oprah Winfrey lived on a farm with her grandmother. She remembers, "One day, my grandmother was boiling clothes because at that time we didn't have a washing machine. I was four years old, and I remember thinking, 'My life won't be like this. It will be better.' " It is better-- much better. Winfrey is a billionaire, and "the Oprah Winfrey Show", which is watched by over 20 million people every day, has won many awards. As a little girl, Winfrey was always different. She learned to read when she was three. She read the Bible in church and was famous for being the little girl who talked a lot. Since then, talking has been the most important part of her life. She got her first big chance while at Tennessee State University. At age 17, she was offered a job at a radio station. Next, she hosted a talk show, " People Are Talking" , which soon became very popular. People felt comfortable telling her about their lives, and people liked her warm interviewing style. After a year, the show was renamed " The Oprah Winfrey Show" , and she was a star. Winfrey's real dream, though , was to be an actor. Finally, she achieved this when she starred in " The Color Purpose" in 1985. Her performance won her an Oscar nomination . She now has her own production company. Harpo Productions ("Harpo" is "Oprah" spelled backward).Winfrey says her greatest lesson in her life is " not living my life to please other people, but doing what my heart says". Why was Oprah Winfrey famous as a little girl? A. Because she could read the Bible and talk about it a lot. B. Because she had her own dreams. C. Because she was able to read the Bible in church. D. Because she lived with her grandmother on a farm. Answer: A. Because she could read the Bible and talk about it a lot.
HARTLAND, Wis. (AP) -- Lauren Panos was surprised when she walked into her ninth-grade English class in the fall and saw there were no boys. Her parents had not told her they had enrolled her in a new all-girls class at Arrowhead High School in Hartland. Panos still isn't sold on the idea. "All the girls there, they can talk out of turn," the 14-year-old said. "We are bored of tasks and it's really upsetting." More public school systems are looking at separating boys and girls, whether for certain classes or by total schools, after the federal government opened the door last fall. Supporters say separating students by sex helps them learn better and allows boys and girls to explore subjects they may not otherwise take. "Boys just make a bigger trouble in the class," Panos' classmate, Alyson Douglas, 15, said "I likes not worrying about boys causing _ ." Presently, nationwide, at least 253 public schools offer single-sex classes and 51 schools are entirely single sex, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. In1995, just three public schools offered single-sex classes. Critics of same-sex classrooms argue that proven methods of improving education should be carried out instead of one that divides boys and girls. "Too many schools feel they can carry out a social experiment with students' education with really the weakest of theories," said Emily Martin, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project. Single-sex schools are an "illusionary silver bullet," said Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations for the American Association of University Women. They distract from real problems and do not offer proven solutions such as lower class sizes and enough funding, she said. "I would suggest that for many of our kids and families, especially in Milwaukee, it's a question of choice," Spence said. "We have a series of choices in Milwaukee and I just think this should be one additional choice." From what Panos said we can learn that _ . Answer: 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. Which of the following about Mark Zuckerberg is true? Answer: As an English teacher, one of the most common problems I've found with my students is their lack of confidence with speaking, and difficulty in understanding native speakers. Another problem could be that a foreign language taught in schools can sound quite different to what native speakers actually use. There are a few English words and expressions that I'd never heard until I came to China. The most common one in my experience is "How are you? I'm fine, thank you, and you?" I appreciate that although this greeting is much too formal for everyday use - it's easy to learn and helps build confidence. However, it can be a hard habit to break. I've seen many parents correct their kids if they don't use that exact phrase, as if simply replying "I'm fine" would somehow be rude. In fact I'm banning my students from saying that in the classroom, insisting a simple "I'm fine, thanks" is good enough. "Seldom" is another one that I find interesting. The first time a student told me "I seldom watch TV", my initial reaction was a stupefied look, followed by "Huh?" I then realized the student used "seldom" when it's more common for us to use "rarely." I was just as confused when I first heard a toilet referred to as a WC (water closet), another English term I'd never heard of back in Australia. Of course, my students know the other names for it like bathroom, toilet, washroom etc. so to prefer that name is an interesting choice. I don't mind that my students have substituted familiar English words with their own, far from it. It reminds me how creative they can be with not only their language, but with mine as well. It's healthy for English to evolve and change and I'm happy to add these new words to my vocabulary. One important lesson I've learnt is that textbooks can only help you so much. For further improvement you'd better practice with native speakers. It's possible for us to hear an Australian say "We _ use the term ' _ ' for a toilet." Answer: I had made up my mind a long time ago that I would not give a homeless person money, because I could never be sure what that money would be used for. Instead, I decided, I would buy them a sandwich, a cold drink on a hot day, a cup of coffee, whatever I could manage. I was out recently and saw a homeless man outside of a _ . I decided I would buy this man lunch. I bought a sandwich and soda. Just as I was leaving the store, two policemen were approaching the man. Obviously the shop owners had complained of his wandering and the police were there to draw him away from the storefronts. Just as they were about to wake him, I asked one of the officers if it was all right if I just gave the man something before he went. I was not sure why I asked the permission but the policeman said sure and I just left the bag in the man's cart, got in my car and drove off. As I was driving off I remember thinking "I hope people saw that". Then I had to seriously ask myself why I hoped people had seen me give the man a sandwich from Starbucks. Was it because I wanted people to think, "She's such a nice person!"? Why did I hope others had seen me do it? I continued to wonder this all evening. The next morning, it came to me that I wanted people to have witnessed that small act of kindness not so that I would receive credit and praise but so that they might be inspired to do the same and in so doing that others still would witness their acts of kindness. Thus the whole spirit of pity and giving would be lasting. The author can be best described as _ . Answer: Last year, my boyfriend suggested that I should run the London marathon, and I laughed. He laughed too, but he laughed too long and too loud. That made me think. I realized that he didn't believe that I could do it. That made me angry, and determined. Now he knows that I can! Training wasn't easy, but I kept going. I didn't need special training but I did need to buy very good shoes. Each day, I went a little further. By the end of three months, I was running five days a week. Sometimes in the evenings I ran 10 km; on Sunday mornings, I sometimes ran about 30 km. I used to come home, have a shower and eat my breakfast. I felt wonderful! On the day of the race in London, I lined up with about 30,000 other runners. The faster runners were at the front, while slower runners like me were placed further back. In that way, the professional runners and club runners were not slowed down by the amateurs. At first, there were so many runners close together that we were almost falling over each other. We could only run very slowly but that was a good thing because it meant that we didn't rush off too quickly. Gradually the runners spread out and there was more space. There were thousands of people watching us along the route and they cheered and clapped everyone, even the slowest runner. It was wonderful! For the first 10 km I felt very happy and my legs felt very comfortable. However, at 15 km I got a pain in my side and running became difficult, but I kept going and the pain disappeared. At the 30 km mark, I felt extremely tired, and wanted to stop, but I kept on going. I covered another 3 km and then I began to feel better again. By the time I reached the 35 km mark, I knew I was going to get to the end of the course. Somehow that confidence made me feel lighter and faster and it seemed as if my legs flew over the last few kilometers. I passed hundreds of slower runners, some of whom had passed me earlier, and I felt wonderful! As I came round the last bend and saw the finishing line, I could see three runners ahead of me. I raced past all of them to finish the race in just under four hours. The winner had completed the race in 2 hours and 10 minutes, but I didn't care! I had run 42 km and completed my first marathon! The hardest time for the writer was when she _ . 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 mean to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear _ . 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 our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us become angry more easily. Many countries are making rules to fight 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 caused by heavy traffic. It is sure 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 keep careful of the rise in pollution at the same time. Our world is becoming much smaller _ . A because the earth is being polluted day and night. B thanks to science developing. C because of the rise in pollution D because the earth is blown away by the wind every year. Answer: B. thanks to science developing. The main function of the human digestive system is to A break down foods for absorption into the blood B exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide in the lungs C release energy from sugars within the cells D carry nutrients to all parts of the body Answer: A. break down foods for absorption into the blood Once upon a time two friends lived in a palace . They both worked for the King . One of them liked a girl and wanted to give her a present . One day , he was walking with his friend in the main palace hall , and he saw a big vase filled with the loveliest flowers he could imagine . He decided to take one to the girl , thinking that no one would see him to so . He did the same thing the next day , and the next .... until one day , the King noticed how few flowers were left in the vase . He was so angry that he called everyone in the palace to assemble . When they were all before the King , the boy wanted to tell the truth . However , his friend told him to be quiet . But when the King came near , he decided to _ . As soon as the boy said that he had done it , the King was angry . But on hearing what the boy has done with the flowers , the King said , " I couldn't have thought of a better use for my flowers . " From that day , the boy and the King became great friends . They went to take two of those wonderful flowers , one for the girl and the other for the Queen . Overcoming fear to tell the truth is difficult , but in the end it isn't so bad . What did the boy's friend want him to do ? A To tell the truth B To be the friend of the King C To keep silent D To look for the girl Answer: C. To keep silent When you tidy your messy bedroom, it gets a lot easier to find things. Dreams may work the same way for a messy brain, helping you learn by organizing memories and ideas. To test how much dreams can help learning, Robert Stickgold had some students play a shape-fitting game called Tetris for a few hours and then go to sleep. Soon they were dreaming of falling Tetris shapes. Interestingly, the worst Tetris players had the most Tetris dreams and improved their game the most. Similar tests have shown the same results for all kinds of skills. As we dream, many important tasks are getting done. The brain decides what to keep and what to forget. It is connecting new experiences to older learning. In fact, the brain is learning all night long. Another important task of dreams may be to help us deal with emotions . At night, emotions are in the driver's seat. People who have had an upsetting experience often dream about it afterward. Often the dream event changes somehow--another way the brain tries to make the memory less upset. So if your best friend moves away, you might dream that you're the one who's moving. In fact, dreams have a proven power to improve mood, and people who dream about what's bothering them usually feel better sooner than those who don't. Everybody dreams for a couple of hours every night--in the course of your life, you'll spend about 25 years asleep and 6 years dreaming. There's probably no single answer to the question why we dream, but there doesn't have to be. One dream might help you remember your math facts, while another might lead to a new invention, or give you a fun, crazy story to tell your friends. It's all in a night's work for our busy, mysterious brains. Robert Stickgold's test shows that _ . A games are useful for memory B tasks can only be settled through dreams C players stop learning in dreams D dreams can help improve skills Answer: D. dreams can help improve skills In American schools there is something called Homecoming. Many high schools and colleges with a football team have a Homecoming game. This can be the most important event of the year except graduation or commencement day. Students plan Homecoming for many weeks in advance. Several days before Homecoming, students start to decorate the school. There are signs to wish luck to the team, and many other signs to welcome all the graduates. Many people still come to Homecoming twenty or thirty years after their graduation. The members of school clubs build booths and sell lemonade, apples and sandwiches. Some clubs help to welcome visitors. During the day people like to look for teachers that they remember from long ago. Often they see old friends and they talk together about those happy years in school. Everyone soon comes to watch the football game. When the game is half over, the band comes onto the field and plays school songs. Another important moment is when the Homecoming Queen or King appears. All the students _ a most popular student Homecoming Queen or King. It is a great honor to be chosen. Homecoming is a happy day, but it is not perfect unless the football team wins the game. Even if the team loses, the students still enjoy Homecoming. Some stay at the school to dance, and others go to a party. For everyone it is a day worth remembering. Who can probably become Homecoming Queen or King? A The student who is liked most by the others. B The guest who is most popular with the students. C The student who is most liked by the guests. D The player who plays best in the football game. Answer: A. The student who is liked most by the others.
Psychologists tell us that there are four basic stages that human beings pass through when they enter and live in a new culture.This process begins with the "honeymoon stage".This is the period of time when we first arrive in which everything about the new culture is strange and exciting.We may be suffering from "jet lag" but we are thrilled to be in the new environment, seeing new sights, hearing new sounds and language, eating new kinds of food.This stage can last for quite a long time because we feel we are involved in some kind of great adventure. Unfortunately, the second stage can be more difficult.After we have settled down into our new life, we can become very tired and begin to miss our homeland and our family, friends, pets.All the little problems in life seem to be much bigger and more disturbing when you face them in a foreign culture.This period of cultural adjustment can be very difficult and lead to rejecting or pulling away from the new culture. The third stage is called the "adjustment stage".This is when you begin to realize that things are not so bad in the host culture.Your sense of humour usually becomes stronger and you realize that you are becoming stronger by learning to take care of yourself in the new place.Things are still difficult, but you are now a survivor! The fourth stage can be called "at ease at last".Now you feel quite comfortable in your new surroundings.You can cope(deal) with most problems that occur.You may still have problems with the language, but you know you are strong enough to deal with them. It can be concluded from the passage that _ . A. people feel better in their own culture B. it is not easy to adapt to a new culture C. culture shock doesn't occur at the beginning D. it is human nature to long for adventures Answer: B Do you know anything about the way of shopping in western countries? People there usually make shopping lists first and then go shopping. Most people like to go to supermarkets because they can get many things in one supermarket such as clothes, food, drinks. The things in supermarkets are cheaper. When they get into a supermarket, they get a basket. Then they buy things and put them in the basket. After they get everything they want, they pay the money. Most people go to the supermarket once a week. Things in the supermarket are a little _ . A. cheaper B. better C. more expensive D. more Answer: A Chinese people call the Spring Festival"Nian". But do you know that Nian was once the name of a monster ? A long time ago, the monster Nian lived in the mountains. It ate animals. But in winter, it could not find food. So it came to villages and ate a lot of people. People were so afraid of Nian that they locked their doors before evening came during the winter. One day, an old man came to a village. He told people there that Nian was afraid of three things----the color red, fire and noise. He told people to play drums and gongs, make big fires and set off fireworks to make Nian go away. On a moonless, cold night, Nian went to the village again. As soon as it opened its big mouth, people made loud noises and made fires. Nian was really afraid and ran away. wherever it went, there was noise and fire. When Nian was tired and could not run anymore, people killed the monster. After that, on the coldest day of winter, people beat drums and gongs, and set off fireworks to celebrate the death of the monster of Nian. They put up red lanterns and have a big dinner without sleeping during the night. In the morning people greet each other happily. So now we have the Spring Festival. The monster Nian wasn't killed until _ . A. it had eaten all the animals B. the old man came to a village C. it was too tired to run away D. people knew what it was afraid of Answer: C 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! Which of the following sentences is TRUE according to the passage? A. Dog owners now can understand their dogs better. B. Bow-Lingual enables dogs to talk in English, Korean or Japanese. C. People who have used Bow-Lingual say it helps them better understand their dogs. D. More and more Chinese dog owners would keep studying Studio Classroom in order to know more English than their dogs. Answer: C Why do people buy art? To answer this question, ask yourself what your reasons are for thinking of getting a piece of art. An artwork can cost a large amount of money, but if it meets your needs, it's worth every penny. People buy art for many reasons. Many people buy an artwork simply because they like it, even if it is by an unknown artist. Art, as long as you enjoy it, is never a waste of money. Art is for enjoyment. Art is meant to be shown. Don't ever feel pressured into buying something you won't enjoy looking at day after day, no matter what other people may say. Don't buy something that doesn't attract you just because it is trendy, or because the artist is famous, or because you have been advised that the artwork will make a good investment. If you don't like the artwork at all, don't buy it! Art improves your environment. Have you ever noticed that all beautiful homes have art as an integral part of the decoration? Art lends life and color to otherwise plain and ordinary walls. A well thought--out art collection will help create a unique atmosphere in your home and make it more attractive. Art makes a statement. The kind of art you surround yourself with says much about your personality tastes and values. _ . Art enriches your life. Love--even the love of a work of art--contributes to healthier living and a longer lifespan . Art should enrich your life. Otherwise, why do you spend precious time and resources on it? Just remember to select something which will appeal to your tastes, and keep to a sensible budget. Good art needn't cost an arm and a leg. Happy art collecting! What's the purpose of the passage? A. To advise us to buy an expensive artwork. B. To remind us to be sensible when buying an artwork. C. To teach us how to choose works of art. D. To explain the benefit of art to people. Answer: D
Question: Work your brain! Between 2 and 3 pounds of wonder, it controls everything we say, do or think, who we are and what we care about, the way we walk or laugh or figure out things, what we like and the talents we possess, how we see and talk and run and jump and process our food. The brain uses 20 percent of our body's oxygen and 20 percent of its blood. Somewhere within its protein, fat, 100,000 miles of blood vessels and 100 billion nerve cells, it helps us remember where we put our gym shoes. Change our temperature so we don't die because of the heat or cold. Speed us up or slow us down. Help us choose between orange juice or orangeflavored drinks. Its complexity are stunning, far beyond anything most of us can imagine. To keep this work of art as polished as possible we need to eat right, exercise and keep mentally stimulated. Good nutrition helps brain cells communicate with each other. Exercise stimulates a hormone in our brain that improves memory. Mental stimulation keeps you sharp even as you age. "It's very important that we tell people to be physically active and mentally active," said neurologist Malcolm Stewart. "People cannot stop aging, but you're able to reduce the damage; you're able to keep the function up." Following are Dr.Stewart's advice for improving brain health: l Nutrition Avoid fast food. Follow the old adage : For breakfast, eat like a king; for lunch, like a queen; for supper, like a beggar. l Exercise Do a combination of stretching aerobic and musclestrengthening every day. l Mental games Try to have a sense of hope about the future. Do puzzles. Listen to music. Reach out to others to make their lives better. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to _ . A. inform us how the brain works B. give us advice on how to keep the brain healthy C. tell us that the brain plays an important role in our lives D. show how special the brain is to us Answer: B Question: Every year gray whales swim a 10,000 miles round-trip, from the cold waters near Alaska, down the coast of North America to the warm waters near Mexico, and back again. It is one of the longest migrations of any mammal. All day, all summer long, in the cold waters near Alaska, gray whales eat and eat. Instead of teeth, gray whales have baleen, they are used to getting food from ocean water. They get big mouthfuls of muck from the ocean floor, then push that muck right back out through their baleen. The mucky water flows through, but tiny animals get trapped in the baleen and _ . When the water starts to freeze, the whales begin their long trip south. They swim night and day, without stopping to eat or rest. During the long journey, migrating whales may push their heads out of the water to see where they are. Two months later, the whales reach Mexico. Babies are born here in warm, shallow waters called lagoons. Ocean lagoons have no food for the adults, but the babies are safer here than in the open seas. All winter the babies grow big and strong. In spring first the dads and teenagers leave the lagoons, then the moms with babies. Migrating gray whales swim close to shore, especially moms with babies. The ice is melting up north, and it's time for the hungry whales to make the long journey back to their summer feeding grounds. Which of the following is not mentioned about gray whales in the text? A. How long they live B. How they get their food C. When they get back to Alaska D. How long they spend traveling to Mexico Answer: B Question: Winter is dangerous because it's so difficult to know what is going to happen and traffic accidents take place so easily . Fog can be waiting to meet you over the top of a hill. Ice might be hiding under the melting snow, waiting ahead to send you off the road. The car coming to you may suddenly slip across the road. Rule Number One for driving on icy roads is to drive smoothly. Sudden movements can make a car very difficult to control. So every time you either start or stop your car, increase or reduce your speed, you must be as gentle and slow as possible. Suppose you are driving with a full cup of hot coffee on the seat next to you. Drive so that you wouldn't spill _ . Rule Number Two is to pay attention to what might happen. The more ice there is, the further down the road you have to look. Test how long it takes to gently stop your car. Remember that you may be driving more quickly than you think. Generally, allow twice of your usual stopping distance when the road is wet, three times on snow, and even more on ice. Try to stay in control of your car at all times ad you will not get into trouble. Which of the following is NOT TRUE? A. Trafficaccidentstakeplaceeasilyinwinter. B. Fogandmeltingsnowoftencausecaraccidents. C. Thestoppingdistanceoniceisaslongastheusualone. D. Inwinteryoushoulddriveyourcarwithgreatcare. Answer: C Question: Some pessimistic experts feel that the automobile is bound to fall into disuse. They see a day in the not-too-distant future when all autos will be abandoned and allowed to rust. Other authorities, however, think the auto is here to stay. They hold that the car will remain a leading means of urban travel in the foreseeable future. The motorcar will undoubtedly change significantly over the next 30 years. It should become smaller, safer, and more economical, and should not be powered by the gasoline engine. The car of the future should be far more pollution-free than present types. Regardless of its power source, the auto in the future will still be the main problem in urban traffic congestion ( ). One proposed solution to this problem is the automated highway system. When the auto enters the highway system, a retractable ( ) arm will drop from the auto and make contact with a rail, which is similar to those powering subway trains electrically. Once attached to the rail, the car will become electrically powered from the system, and control of the vehicle will pass to a central computer. The computer will then monitor all of the car 's movements. The driver will use a telephone to dial instructions about his destination into the system. The computer will calculate the best route, and reserve space for the car all the way to the correct exit from the highway. The driver will then be free to relax and wait for the buzzer ( ) that will warn him of his coming exit. It is estimated that an automated highway will be able to handle 10,000 vehicles per hour, compared with the 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles that can be carried by a present-day highway. What is the author's attitude toward the future of autos? A. Enthusiastic. B. Pessimistic. C. Optimistic. D. Cautious. Answer: C Question: Have you still remember what happened when you went to school on the first day? I still remember my interesting first day of school . On that day, I hurried to my science class in the morning and found a seat in the back. I waited there for 15 minutes before the bell rang. The science teacher told us about some class rules. No one talked to me nor did I talk to anyone else. I was one of those very shy girls. After the science class, I had an English class. I thought it would be boring but it turned out to be very funny. When the classes of the morning ended I went to lunch. I sat outside the dining room with no one to talk to and no food because I was too nervous to join the lunch line. I kept looking around hoping to see someone I knew but I never saw anyone. Lunch ended and I went to have my art class. I was the first one there and not even my teacher was there yet. So I sat at my desk and started drawing some pictures. I didn't notice the rest of the class walking in or the girl that was standing behind me till I surprised by the voice, "So what are you drawing?" It was a girl who had really long hair. She ended up being my best friend and one of the kindest and liveliest girls I know. In the next class meeting, the teacher asked us to talk about the past holiday. I was glad to make some new friends in the class. The first day of high school was hard for me but I got through it. In the art class, the writer _ . A. met someone she knew before B. talked about her past holiday C. got to know a lively girl D. drew some pictures about her class Answer: C
Friends are important to the children. Research shows that children who have no friends can suffer from difficulties later in life. Friendship provides children with more than just fun. In making friends, children learn how to get in touch with the others and solve problems. Having friends even does good to children's study for they can help each other during the class. If the parents care about their children whether they made many friends,what matters is that the child is comfortable and happy with his friends. Parents need to understand the steps children take in building friendships. First of all, be a friend to your child. Good friendships start at home. Children begin to develop the necessary ability to go out and meet others through getting with their parents. Greet the child warmly and let him know you are glad to see him. Children learn a lot from how their parents stay with them and other people. Teach children how to solve conflicts . Being able to work out conflicts is an important skill in getting along with others. If parents know the children have a conflict, let them work it out on their own. Only step in if it is really necessary, for example, an argument is getting physical. Give children chances to practice staying together. Have children play games that require team work and group problem solving skills. For example, races are fun and provide plenty of practice in teamwork. "In what ways didn't you work well together? What might you do differently next time?" For these ideas, see books such as Games Book by Terry Orlick, Energizers by Carol Apacki, and Team-Building Activities for Every Group by Alanna Jones. Encourage children to show thanks to the others. The parents can encourage children to do this by setting the example for them. The writer's purpose of writing the article is to _ . A tell what parents should do to help the children make friends B show friends even does good to children's study during the class C tell the parents need to understand the steps of children's friendship D show how important the friendship is to the children Answer: A. tell what parents should do to help the children make friends Winter is a great time to experiment with new sports. The key is to find one that matches your interests and natural abilities. If you like to walk, keep walking -- on snowshoes. If you want to try an endurance sport, go for cross-country skiing. Besides, snowboarding is just great fun. Not satisfied with these? Try downhill skiing, then. Downhill skiing is not as hard as it used to be -- shorter, lightweight, curved skis make any beginner feel like an Olympic winner. These newer skis -- along with another type of equipment called skiboards, which are even shorter than skis -- help you control your speed and body movements. Consider testing the latest high-tech skis or snowboards?Check with your local sports shops or the rental places at the ski mountains about sample programs. You could also try sledding. Use a wood-framed sled with steel runners or a plastic sled to head down a snowy hill. If you prefer ice to snow, think hockey or figure skating. Runners can also train during the winter in spite of wet or slippery roads. One of the easiest sports around, snowshoeing can be excellent cold-weather cross-training for runners and cyclists -- or anyone wanting to take a wintry walk in the woods. Snowshoes are smaller, lighter, and better than ever. If you want to try them out, you may be able to rent a pair for a day at many of the larger outdoor or sporting goods stores. Whatever sport you choose, don't rely on a friend for instruction. You wouldn't let an inexperienced doctor perform a brain operation on you, but why let one teach you to ski or skate? That's what instructors are for -- to help newcomers start out right. Instructors can give you advice about equipment, techniques, safety, and dealing with injuries if they do happen to you. Above all, if you want to progress, invest your time in learning the basic skills thoroughly. Everything else you do as a skier, boarder, or skater will be built on these first skills. What can we learn from the passage? A Runners and cyclists cannot train because of the wet or slippery roads in winter. B Downhill skiing used to be more difficult to learn because of the old-fashioned skis. C People can rent snowshoes for a day at their local sports shops or the rental places. D In general, first skills are more important in skiing than in snowboarding or skating. Answer: B. Downhill skiing used to be more difficult to learn because of the old-fashioned skis. According to the US government, wind farms off the Pacific coast could produce 900 gigawatts of electricity every year.Unfortunately, the water there is far too deep for even the tallest windmills to touch bottom.An experiment under way off the coast of Norway, however, could help put them anywhere. The project, called Hywind, is the world's first large-scale deepwater wind turbine .Although it uses a fairly standard 152-ton, 2.3-megawatt turbine, Hywind represents totally new technology.The turbine will be fixed 213 feet above the water on a floating spar, a technology Hywind's creator, the Norwegian company StatoilHydro, has developed recently.The steel spar, which is filled with stones and goes 328 feet below the sea surface, will be tied to the ocean floor by three cables ; these will keep the spar stable and prevent the turbine from moving up and down in the waves.Hywind's stability in the cold and rough sea would prove that even the deepest corners of the ocean are suitable for wind power.If all goes according to the plan, the turbine will start producing electricity six miles off the coast of southwestern Norway as early as September. To produce electricity on a large scale, a commercial wind farm will have to use bigger turbines than Hywind does, but it's difficult enough to balance such a large turbine so high on a floating spar in the middle of the ocean.To make that turbine heavier, the whole spar's center of gravity must be moved much closer to the ocean's surface.To do that, the company plans to design a new kind of wind turbine, one whose gearbox sits at sea level rather than behind the blades. Hywind is a test run, but the benefits for perfecting floating wind-farm technology could be extremely large.Out at sea, the wind is often stronger and steadier than close to shore, where all existing offshore windmills are planted.Deep-sea farms are invisible from land, which helps overcome the windmill-as-eyesore objection.If the technology catches on, it will open up vast areas of the planet's surface to one of the best low-carbon power sources available. Wide applications of deepwater wind power technology can _ . A solve the technical problems of deepwater windmills B make financial profits by producing more turbines C settle the arguments about environmental problems D explore low-carbon power resources available at sea Answer: D. explore low-carbon power resources available at sea Internet use appears to cause a drop in psychological health, according to a 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 used Internet less frequently, the two-year 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 appeared to cause the bad feeling. Researchers are puzzled by the results, which were completely the opposite to their experiences. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose the information and to communicate with others. The fact that Internet use reduces time available for family and friends may explain the drop-in well-being, researchers supposed. Faceless, bodiless "virtual" communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversation, and the relationships formed through it may be shallower. Another possibility is that knowing the wider world via 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," says psychologist Christine Riley of Intel, one of the study founders. "It really points to the need for considering social factors in terms of how you design applications and services for technology." Why did the results of research puzzle the researchers? A People could choose their information through Internet. B They had expected the opposite results. C People can communicate with others. D They had thought Internet was much healthier. Answer: B. They had expected the opposite results. In a world with limited land, water and other natural resources , the harm from the traditional business model is on the rise. Actually, the past decade has seen more and more forests disappearing and the globe becoming increasingly warm. People now realize that this unhealthy situation must be changed, and that we must be able to develop in sustainable ways. That means growth with low carbon or development of sustainable products. In other words, we should keep the healthy while using its supply of natural resources. Today, sustainable development is a popular trend in many countries. According to a recent study, the global market for low-carbon energy will become three times bigger over the next decade. China, for example, has set its mind on leading that market, hoping to seize chances in the new round of the global energy resolution. It is now trying hard to made full use of wind and solar energy, and is spending a huge amount of money making electric cars and high-speed trains. In addition, we are also seeing great growth in the global markets for sustainable products such as palm oil , which is produced without cutting down valuable rainforest. In recent years the markets for sustainable products have grown more than 50%. Governments can fully develop the potential of these new markets. First, they can set high targets for reducing carbon emissions and targets for saving and reusing energy. Besides, stronger arrangement of public resources like forests can also help to speed up the development. Finally, governments can avoid the huge public expenses that are taking us in the wrong direction, and redirecting some of those expenses can accelerate the change from the traditional model to a sustainable one. The major challenge of this century is to find ways to meet the needs of a growing population within the limits of this single planet. That is no small task, but it offers a large of new chances for sustainable product industries. To fully develop the low-carbon markets, governments can _ . A cut public expenses B forbid carbon emission C develop public resources D encourage energy conservation Answer: C. develop public resources
Question: In the Middle Ages in Europe, theater was an important part of civic, economic and religious life. During this period after the fall of Roman civilization, many cities were destroyed. Southern and Western Europe, famous for its agriculture, became increasingly more agricultural. After several hundred years, many towns appeared again. The Roman Catholic Church took over religion, education and politics. What remained of theater was mostly on the Greek and Roman performing arts. Theater was reborn as liturgical dramas. It was written in Latin and dealing with biblical stories which would be performed by church members. Then there came local dramas spoken in common language not Latin. They were more wonderful one-act dramas taking place in town squares or other parts of the city. There were three types of local dramas. Mystery or cycle plays were short dramas based on biblical stories organized into historical cycles. Miracle plays dealt with the lives of the great. Morality plays taught a lesson through characters standing for good or bad qualities. Secular plays in this period existed, but religious drama in the Middle Ages is mostly remembered today. As the Middle Ages ended, the number of religious theatres became small as the church weakened and more secular qualities won over religious theaters. Why did religious theatres become less important as the Middle Ages came to an end? A. People were not interested in them any longer. B. The church was not as important as what it had been. C. People liked new plays. D. The stories of religious theatres were outdated. Answer: B. The church was not as important as what it had been. Question: Wilson, At college, when I try speaking with anyone, I just feel very nervous. I have no trouble talking when I'm alone. However, when I talk with others, my voice sounds different, and sometimes there is a pause between each word I pronounce. Sometimes I can't pronounce a word even with my own family members. My voice becomes deeper and sounds totally different than it usually does. Can you please give me some good advice? John John, If you have trouble pronouncing words, simply accept the fact. Many other readers have such experiences, and so do I. You don't need to get stressed about it. You are apparently getting nervous because you feel like you are under some pressure when speaking to other people. Take your time and don't worry about pauses. Speak slowly, opening your mouth to enunciate your words clearly. Listen to powerful leaders on the television and note that they speak slowly and carefully and learn to master their speaking techniques. When you speak to others in college, try to ask questions that will get the other person to talk. Listening carefully and then filling in during the conversation takes the pressure off you and you will feel more relaxed when you talk. You make more of an impression when you are interested in what the other person is saying than when you try to lead a conversation. Remember that the more you worry about how your voice sounds, about pronouncing words and about pauses, the worse it gets. So accept the way you speak now and relax in your conversations. I hope these ideas can help take the pressure off you when you talk to other people. Wilson We can learn from the passage that Wilson is most probably a(n) _ . A. teacher B. editor C. doctor D. broadcaster Answer: B. editor Question: Having a bit of a temper tantrum , whether at home or in the classroom, is as harmful as you can get and only serves to discourage your teenagers. What they really need at this stage in their lives are words that build them up according to their needs that it may benefit them-that is, words of encouragement, affirmation and a good deal of praise. The benefits to them and us as parents and teachers are quite amazing-harmony, peace and love. When I left my last school where I had been a casual for eight years, I received "thank you" notes from the students. I think these notes illustrate what teenagers want and need from their parents and teachers. Some of the notes mention kindness, patience, thoughtfulness, encouragement and fun. Teenagers value these qualities and what I found was that the more I relaxed and enjoyed their company, the less I had to discipline them. Below I've included a few excerpts from the notes to let the kids speak for themselves. These are teenagers speaking from the heart and show what, according to teenagers, they need and value. Each note began, "Thank you for..." * making each student in the school happy * putting up with us every time you get us (i.e. having patience) * Always giving every student a chance and treating everyone like an adult giving lots of merits and making every lesson fun and enjoyable * Being very kind & for giving me lots of (merit) stickers * You make working be fun * Being a patient and thoughtful teacher Patience is needed as well as kindness, thoughtfulness, a sense of humor and fun and the ability to listen more than talk. When we praise and value our teenagers, the results are nothing short of miraculous. What's the result of having a temper tantrum _ ? A. hurting yourself and your teenagers B. being harmful to yourself only C. being not good for teenagers D. having no negative influence Answer: A. hurting yourself and your teenagers Question: It is easier to float in the ocean than it is to float in a swimming pool. Do you know why? Ocean water is full of salt-- and salt water can hold up more weigh than fresh water. See for yourself! You Will Need: * 3 cups of warm water * Measuring cup * Wide-mouthed jar * Salt * Spoon * Raw potato You Will Do: Pour 1.5 cups of warm water into the jar.Add 1/3 cup of salt.Stir until the salt is completely dissolved.Add another 1.5 cups of water. Pour it slowly over the back of the spoon into the jar so that the two liquid will not mix together. Gently place the potato into the jar. Do not drop it. What Will Happen: The potato will sink-- but only halfway! Why? Salt water is heavier than fresh water, so it will stay on the bottom. The fresh water will remain on top. The potato is heavier than the fresh water, but it is lighter than the salt water. That is why the potato will sink halfway down. In which step of the experiment do you add the salt? A. Step 1 B. Step 2 C. Step 3 D. Step 4 Answer: B. Step 2 Question: I have six baskets. Three are big . Three are small . I have some pears and some oranges . I put three pears in each big basket and four oranges in each small basket . The number of oranges is my age . I have _ pears . A. three B. five C. seven D. nine Answer: D. nine
Question: 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. Can 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 as well read and act on the ideas in this book. We learn from the text that Wilson cares most about _ . A. the environment for plants B. the biodiversity of our earth C. the waste of natural resources D. the importance of human values Answer: B. the biodiversity of our earth Question: The world's earliest known fish hooks show that humans fished in the open sea for much longer than previously thought. Past studies have shown that early humans were able to cross the open ocean as far back as 50,000 years ago, but evidence that they could fish while in the open sea dated back only to 12,000 years ago. "In most areas of the world, evidence for our early ancestors' coastal exploitation was drowned by rising sea level," said researcher Sue O'Connor. Now O'Connor and her colleagues have found evidence of prehistoric fishing tools and the remains of large fish such as tuna at a cave shelter known as Jerimalai, located in the Southeast Asian island nation of East Timor. Their discovery uncovered fishing hooks made from bone that dated back to about 42,000 years ago. "It's possible that people caught the tuna in the deep channel that lies off the coast of the Jerimalai shelter," O'Connor said. The site, first uncovered in 2005, also included bone points, shell beads, the remains of fish, turtles, bats and birds, and nearly 10,000 stone tools. The island of Timor has very few land animals overall and only small birds call the island home, perhaps explaining why the ancient people here went fishing. About half the fish remains at the site came from fish such as tuna. Catching such fast-moving fish requires much planning and complex technology, suggesting that early humans developed these skills earlier than previously thought. Some other scientists might say that most of the fish bones seen are from young fish, and thus might have been caught more easily off the coast as opposed to in open waters. While this may be the case, it's still not easy to catch tuna -- it requires nets set in deep water. According to Sue O'Connor, evidence for our early ancestors' coastal exploitation _ . A. indicated tuna was a common dish for our early ancestors B. showed the trend of sea movement C. was difficult to find D. was buried in cave shelters Answer: C. was difficult to find Question: Do you know something about the holiday camps in Hong Kong? The students in Hong Kong used to take part in an English holiday camp in their holidays. And their parents weren't with them, though they were very young. Now they still enjoy taking part in many kinds of holiday camps without their parents. Many parents let their children take part in some kinds of holiday camps in order to learn some practical knowledge in their life. And also learn some knowledge about living skills, science, reading and writing... The most important for the children is to learn to look after themselves. Holiday camps in Hong Kong are not so expensive. Most of the families can afford to send their children there for further study, for making their bodies strong... It is said that students in Hong Kong have much knowledge about many things. Perhaps it has to do with the kinds of holiday camps. The most important thing for the students to take part in the holiday camps in Hong Kong is _ . A. to make their bodies strong B. to learn much knowledge about many things C. to learn to look after themselves D. to have a further study about many subjects Answer: C. to learn to look after themselves Question: After mining removes layers of rock from a hillside, new plants begin to grow in the cracks of the bare rock. The plants beginning to grow are an example of which natural process? A. secondary succession in an existing ecosystem B. new species developing in an ecosystem C. species competition in a community D. primary succession in a new habitat Answer: D. primary succession in a new habitat Question: Fish and chips, and Chinese take-away food are very popular in England. But they are _ in the USA. In the USA, they eat take-away food, too, like chicken. But the most popular kind of take-away food is the hamburger. It looks like bread with meat in it. Ham is a kind of pork---- but the hamburger does not have any pork in it. It has beef in it. The beef is inside a kind of cake. Hamburgers are delicious. They are very popular in the USA. They are also popular in England and Australia. The hamburger does not have any _ in it. A. beef B. pork C. meat D. chicken Answer: B. pork
A new study of 8,000 young people in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily, it is a bad thing for young people. Puppy love may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression. The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all. The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is "loss of self". According to the study,even though boys would say "lose themselves in a romantic relationship", this "loss of self" is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions. They won't tell that to their parents. Dr Marianm Kaufman,an expert on young people problems, says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression. She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up, it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self. She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends,attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family. Parents should watch for signs of depression--eating or mood changes--and if they see signs from their daughters or sons, they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age.Love will always make us feel young,but only maturity gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects. Which of the following is more likely to have depression? Answer: Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions. A group of children, ranging in age from 8 to 15, regularly played football on the common area of an apartment complex owned by O'Neill. Most of the children lived in the apartment complex, but some lived elsewhere. O'Neill knew that the children played on the common area and had not objected. Peter, a 13-year-old who did not live in the apartment complex, fell over a sprinkler head while running for a pass and broke his leg. Although Peter had played football on the common area before, he had never noticed the sprinkler heads, which protruded one inch above the ground and were part of a permanently installed underground sprinkler system. If a claim is asserted on Peter's behalf, Peter will Answer: prevail if the sprinkler head was a hazard that Peter probably would not discover. Bears are found in Asia, Africa and America. They are very strong, with short tails and thick legs. Bears eat almost everything. They seem to enjoy meat, vegetables, fruit, milk and rice. Bears are not quite dangerous as people imagine them to be. Like most animals, they will try to stay away from human beings. However, bears are not weak animals. Sometimes they kill hunters, for they can be very dangerous. Bears have a good sense of smell but they have poor eyesight. They are also hard of hearing but they are very clever. They feed mainly on roots, frogs, fish and also small insects. They will sometimes kill deer and other large animals, but they seem to like small animals better. In the cold area, bears hibernate, or go to sleep from October to April. Before they start to hibernate, they eat a lot and store fat. The mother bear has its babies, usually two, towards the end of hibernation. A large bear is much cleverer than a cat and most other animals. You may notice at the zoo how cleverly they ask for food. They sit up and hold out their paws. You would have to teach a dog such a trick but the bears learn this by themselves. They are also hard of hearing. means they _ . Answer: cannot hear well Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big ambition--to play the drums in a band. But one big obstacle lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy. One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut. With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child. It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band. Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said: "If those old people next - door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened." We can draw a conclusion from the passage that: " _ ". Answer: One good turn deserves another Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius car with a curious-looking thing on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was not actually driving. The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view( anyhow, no one can keep such a thing from the public) on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and imitate the decisions made by a human driver. With someone behind the wheel to take control if something goes wrong and a technician in the passenger seat to monitor the navigation system , seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. One even drove itself down Lombard Street in San Francisco, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the nation. The only accident, engineers said, was that one Google car was rear-ended when it stopped at a traffic light. Autonomous cars are years from mass production, but technologists who have long dreamed of them believe that they can transform society as profoundly as the Internet has. Robot drivers react faster than humans, have 360-degree perception and do not get distracted or sleepy, the engineers argue. They speak in terms of lives that could be saved and injuries that could be avoided--- more than 37,000 people died in car accidents in the United States in 2008. The engineers say the technology could double the capacity of roads by allowing cars to drive more safely while closer together. Because the robot cars would eventually be less likely to crash, they could be built lighter, reducing fuel consumption. But of course, to be truly safer, the cars must be far more reliable than, say, today's personal computers, which crash on occasion and are frequently infected. The Google research program using artificial intelligence to revolutionize the automobile is proof that the company's ambitions reach beyond the search engine business. The program is also a departure from the mainstream of innovation in Silicon Valley, which has turned toward social networks and Hollywood-style digital media. However, the Google researchers said the company did not yet have a clear plan to create a business from the experiments. The author's purpose of writing this passage is _ . Answer: to introduce the new invention of Google
A Bite of China, featuring delicious Chinese food, has attracted countless viewers, and moved many to tears. A Bite of China is a serious documentary providing a unique view of Chinese as well as the relations between people and food and between people and society from the view of food. The touching documentary reminds some people of their mother, and makes some realize that every grain comes from hard and laborious work. Some people see patriotism in the documentary, and some consider it a great cultural export. How did this documentary achieve a great influence beyond its subject matter in such a short time? "It is not empty propaganda about China's splendid food culture. Instead, it shows the techniques used in making food and their production process as well as the lives of ordinary people, thus striking a chord with the audience," an Internet user said. The success of the documentary should be owed to sincerity and reality. Nowadays, many works of art that have high investment, high technology, and magnificent scenes lack nothing but sincerity and reality. A Bite of China shows that a commercial documentary promoting patriotism can be full of touching details, that the emotions of ordinary Chinese people should be exhibited even in publicizing China overseas, and that even a completely commercial program can achieve both artistic and commercial success. "We made this documentary with our respect and love for food," said director Chen Xiaoqing. Being sincere is the most important thing for artists because they cannot move others unless they themselves are first moved, and cannot convince others unless they themselves are first convinced. Sincerity is the "secret" for making this documentary so popular, and every cultural creator should learn from its success. From the passage, it can be inferred that _ . A The documentary is so successful that no one can surpass it. B Different people can get different messages from the documentary. C The documentary should have shown China's splendid food culture. D Many art works fail to reflect reality and high technology. Answer: B. Different people can get different messages from the documentary. Faces that activate the same regions of the brain again and again are more likely to be remtembered. Practice makes perfect when it comes to remembering things, but exactly how that works has long been a mystery. A study published in Science recently indicates that reactivating neural patterns over and over again my store items into the memory. People find it easier to recall things if material is presented repeatedly at well-spaced intervals rather than all at once. For example, you're more likely to remember a face that your've seen on some occasions over a few days than one that you've seen once in one long period. One reason that a face linked to many different contexts -such as school, work and home- is easier to recognize than one that is associated with just one setting, such as a party, could be that there are some ways to access the memory. This idea, called the encoding variability hypothesis ,was proposed by psychologists about 40 years ago. Each different context or setting activates a clear set of brain regions; the hypothesis suggests that it is these differing neural responses that improve the memory. But neuroimaging research led by Russell Poldrack, a scientist at the University of Texas. Austin, now suggests that the opposite is true--items are better remembered when they activate the same neural patterns with each exposure. Poldrack's team measured brain activity in 24 people using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The subjects saw 120 unfamiliar faces, and each one repeated four times at varying intervals during the scan. One hour later, they were shown the faces again, mixed with 120 new ones, and asked to rate the familiarity of each. The researchers then looked at the brain responses that had been recorded when the subjects wee first shown the faces, focusing on 20 brain regions associated with visual perception and memory. Face that were later recognized evoked similar activation patterns at each repetition in nine of the regions, particularly those associated with object and face perception; faces that were later forgotten did not produce such pattern to the same extent in people's mind Which of the following things can be most easily remembered according to Russell Poldrack? A Something that activates the same regions of the brain again and again. B Something that is linked to only one setting. C Something that activates different neutral responses. D Something that you have seen once for a long time. Answer: A. Something that activates the same regions of the brain again and again. This is a teacher's family.The father's name is Tom Smith. He is forty--four.The mother''s name is Kate Smith.She's forty-two.They have a son,Jim,and a daughter, Ann.Jim is fourteen, and Ann is twelve .The son looks like his father ,and the daughter looks like her mother .They are all in No. 4 Middle school.But the Smiths are teachers ,the son and the daughter are students. Is Kate Smith a teacher ? A Yes, she is. B Yes,he is C No,she isn't. D No, he isn't Answer: A. Yes, she is. Joan worked in a hospital. One evening there was a big dance at the hospital. Most of the doctors and nurses would be there, but of course somebody had to be left to look after the sick children, and Joan was not of the lucky ones. She liked dancing very much, so when she had to start work that evening while her friends were getting ready to go to the dance, she felt very sorry for herself. She went to each sick child one after another and said good-night, until she came to one little boy, Dick. Dick was only eleven years old, but he had a very serious illness and couldn't move most parts of his body except his hands. Joan knew Dick would never get any better, but the little boy was always happy and always thinking about other people instead of himself. Dick knew that Joan loved dancing. So when she came to say good-night to him, he greeted her with the words, "I'm very sorry that you can't go to the dance because of us. But we are going to have a party for you. If you look in my drawer, you'll find a piece of cake that I _ from my supper today. And there is also a dollar there. You can buy something to drink with the cake. And I'll get up and dance with you myself if I was able to." Suddenly the hospital dance seemed very far away and not important at all to Joan. ,. Which of the following about Dick is TRUE? A He could not move his hands. B He would get better soon. C He could dance very well. D He was always happy and helpful. Answer: D. He was always happy and helpful. When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said"the phone". Personally, I could do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual. Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology. Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been at school with all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about? Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone. "The mobile saved my life,"says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance to her rescue. Point 3 The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at and time of day to ask where they are , where they are going, and how their last meeting went. Point 4 The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramante in Rome says, "We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near----but we didn't meet for the first two weeks!" Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously ( ) on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn't know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they're space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access the Internet, the biggest library on Earth. It is possible to talk to several complete strangers simultaneously through . A the TV screen B a fax machine C the phone line hooked up to the computer D a microphone Answer: C. the phone line hooked up to the computer
The more miles that you can get out of a gallon of gasoline, what happens? A gasoline will take you a lower distance than normally B more gasoline sales will be made C travel expenses will go up due to gasoline costs D less gasoline will be needed to go a distance Answer: D. less gasoline will be needed to go a distance People who have lost the ability to understand or use words due to brain damage are called aphasics . Such patients can be extremely good at something else. From the changing expressions on speakers' faces and the tones of their voices, they can tell lies from truths. Doctors studying the human brain have given a number of examples of this amazing power of aphasics. Some have even compared this power to that of a dog with an ability to find out the drugs hidden in the baggage. Recently, scientists carried out tests to see if all that was said about aphasics was true. They studied a mixed group of people. Some were normal; others were aphasics. It was proved that the aphasics were far ahead of the normal people in recognizing false speeches -- in most cases, the normal people were fooled by words, but the aphasics were not. Some years ago, Dr. Oliver Sacks wrote in his book about his experiences with aphasics. He mentioned a particular case in a hospital. Some aphasics were watching the president giving a speech on TV. Since the president had been an actor earlier, making a good speech was no problem for him. He was trying to put his feelings into every word of his speech. But his way of speaking had the opposite effect on the patients. They didn't seem to believe him. Instead, they burst into laughter. The aphasics knew that the president did not mean a word of what he was saying. He was lying! Many doctors see aphasics as people who are not completely normal because they lack the ability to understand words. However, according to Dr. Sacks, they are more gifted than normal people. Normal people may get carried away by words. Aphasics seem to understand human expressions better, though they cannot understand words. How did the scientists study aphasics? A By asking them to watch TV together. B By comparing them with normal people. C By organizing them into acting groups. D By giving them chances to speak on TV. Answer: B. By comparing them with normal people. WASHINGTON - Barack Obama swept to victory as the first black president in the US history Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. "Change has come," he told a huge group of cheering supporters. In his first speech as victor, Obama catalogued the challenges ahead. "The greatest of a lifetime," he said, "two wars, a planet in danger, the worst financial crisis in a century." He added, "There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face." The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his historic triumph by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states -- Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Iowa and more. In his speech, Obama invoked the words of Lincoln and echoed John F. Kennedy. "So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder," he said. He and his running mate, Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009. Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession , and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan. Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months. The first issue Obama will focus his attention on may probably be to _ . A withdraw most US combat troops from Iraq B care for environmental protection C declare two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan D deal with the problems of economy Answer: D. deal with the problems of economy Are you the only child in the family? If so, you are the most important in your family. Parents are the closest people to you in the world. But a lot of middle school students have a problem. They feel they are not as close to their parents as before. They even don't think their parents are fair to them. Some students complain that their parents often say a lot to them, but never listen to them. Some say their parents don't allow them to play computer games when other people are doing it. Others say when they are making phone calls to friends, their parents like to ask if they're speaking to a boy or a girl. These make them very unhappy. Some students even decided to leave home because they're afraid to tell their parents when they have done something wrong, particularly when they do badly in exams. Then they usually think running away is the only choice . But they don't know running away may bring them some more problems. Problems are parts of life. Here are some suggestions for you to solve your problems. Find a good chance to talk with your parents. Don't be afraid to tell them your feeling. Keep a diary to help you understand more about yourself and your feeling. Get help from others like good friends or teachers. Show your parents you are growing up. Then they will feel you are no longer a small child. If you follow the advice, you will have a happy life and never think of running away.21cnj*y The article is about some middle school students' _ . A friends B hobbies C parents D problems Answer: D. problems Once there was an old man in a town. He always forgot a lot of things. So his wife always had to say to him, 'Don''t forget this!' One day he went on a long trip alone. Before he left home, his wife said, 'Now you have all these things. They are what you need for your trip. Take care of your things during the trip.' He went to the station, bought a ticket and got on the train with it. About half an hour later, the conductor began to see the tickets. He came to the old man and said, 'Will you please show me your ticket?' The old man looked for his ticket in all his pockets, but he could not find it. He was very worried. 'I can't find my ticket. I really bought a ticket before I got on the train.' said the old man. 'I believe you bought a ticket. All right, you don''t have to buy another one, ' said the conductor kindly. ' But how can I know where I'm going? I can't remember my station!' the old man said sadly. Where is the ticket? A The old man forgot go buy it. B The old man could not remember where it was. C The old man showed it to the conductor. D The old man's wife took the ticket away. Answer: B. The old man could not remember where it was.
Like every other Olympics, the London 2012 Olympics will depend upon thousands of volunteers to help with the smooth running of the event. To show the importance of the role, London 2012 volunteers are to be called 'Game Makers'. Lord Coe has said recently: "London 2012 is relying on brilliant Game Makers to help us create a great Olympic and Paralympic Games. " London 2012 Olympics volunteers will provide the face of London 2012, working behind the scenes and making sure the games are as well organized, efficient and, most importantly, as enjoyable as possible. Despite the hard-work and often unsociable hours required of volunteers, applications to be considered as a Game Maker were unprecedented with all the 70, 000 available positions applied within days. But, for those still interested in helping out during 2012 and being in the middle of the action, there are still a lot of opportunities available. If you were one of those who missed out on the chance of becoming London 2012 volunteers, you can now apply to be one of the 8, 000 London Ambassadors . This important role involves greeting fans from all over the world, welcoming them to the fantastic capital city of London and providing a friendly face as well as help, advice and a good old traditional warm British welcome. The view of London most visitors take away with them after the 2012 Olympics will mostly _ the volunteers and ambassadors, so these roles play a very important part in the process of making the UK a great place to travel to. Becoming a London Ambassador is a brilliant way to be involved with the London 2012 volunteers scheme and become a part of what should be an historic summer. What's the purpose of the passage? Answer: To appeal to more volunteers. Negative self talk and negative energy can affect you in many ways and cause you additional stress. Because of this, developing more positive self talk is an important way to reduce stress in your life. You can help yourself maintain a positive frame of mind which will help with positive self talkby surrounding yourself with positive energy in your life. You can get that by adding some elements to your life. Listening to music that not only has a pleasant melody, but an uplifting message, can be great for developing positive self talk. Have you ever had a song "stuck in your head" for a few hours or days, the lyrics repeating themselves in your mind? If those lyrics were positive and inspirational, that would be a good thing. It's a much better mental soundtrack to have than a running stream of complaints, criticisms of self-limiting thoughts, or even songs that had more depressing or sad lyrics. Books on strength, personal power, enlightenment, or self help can be good resources to help you change your outlook and the things you say to yourself. Rather than bringing habitual self-defeating thoughts, you can find yourself thinking of new can-do concepts when times get tough. One of the most important ways you can get and keep positive energy in your life is with the company you keep. Do your friends uplift you, or bring you down? Are they critical, or approving? Ideal friendships provide support when you're down, fun when you're up, wisdom when you're lost. Good friends can inspire you to reach greater heights, and see your strengths even when you don't always. Pay attention to how your friends make you feel, and if they're less than supportive, start putting your energy and time toward people who are better suited to be your friends. In addition, positive affirmations can certainly change your self talk from negative to positive. Now, why not begin working positive affirmations into your life in some creative ways? According to the passage, your best company should be those who _ . Answer: encourage you to do things better One evening Tim is driving his car in the country and looking for a hotel. Then he sees an old man on the side of the road, so he stops his car and says to the old man, "Where is Sun Hotel? Will you please tell me how to get there?" "Yes," the old man answers. "I'll show you the way." He gets into Tim's car, and they drive for about 12 kilometres. When they come to a small house, the old man says, "Stop here." Tim stops and looks at the house. And he says to the old man, "But this isn't a hotel." "No," the old man answers. "This is my house. And now I'll show you the way to Sun Hotel. Turn back and go 9 kilometres. Then you'll see the hotel on your left. " Tim wants to stay _ for the night. Answer: in the hotel The best UK cottages for Christmas and New Year _ It's a solid little Victorian gatehouse outside Ballycastle. It has an association with Irish nationalist Roger Casement. Close to the Causeway Coast, the closest beach is five minutes' drive away. It is a good choice for those who want to avoid stairs, since all the main rooms are on the ground floor. Sleeps 2 adults + 2 children, PS730 a week at Christmas or New Year (three nights from PS389), 353 1 670 4733, irishlandmark.com _ It is located in a peaceful island, where a priory was built 1,400 years ago. Guests at Coastguard's Cottage, the latest addition to English Heritage's portfolio of holiday houses, can explore the priory ruins. The attractive whitewashed house is decorated with calming tones and contemporary furnishings and has views of Lindisfarne Castle. Sleeps 6, PS1,600 a week from 19 Dec, 0370 333 1187, english-heritage.org.uk _ It sits on a 350-acre private nature reserve. Surrounded by woodlands, wetlands and wild meadows, it's a heaven for wildlife. You might meet a few animals on a walk around the reserve. Built by local craftsmen using natural materials, it is a light-filled living space with huge windows, a woodburner and other essential for winter evenings -- a home cinema system. Sleeps 6, PS1,430 a week from 29 Dec, 01580 720770 kentandSussexcottages.co.uk _ In snowy winter, the quiet 16th-century cottage near Stowmarket is like a perfect picture on Christmas cards. The inside is also appealing, with a big farmhouse kitchen, antique furniture, comfortable carpets and an impressive fireplace. A good selection of films, music and books are provided. Approached via a single track lane, the cottage sits in three acres of wild meadow, surrounded by plenty of farmland. Sleeps 5, PS1,003 a week from 30 Dec (three nights PS725), 01787 211115, grove-cottages.co.uk Who will probably book the cottage in Northumberland? Answer: Those who want to explore some ruins. In a small town, there lived a doctor. He was good and kind. He was ready to go and help people. People always went to him when they were ill. Many years later, the doctor began to forget things. The people were afraid and little by little, they stopped going to him. The doctor saw his business wasn't as good as before. He thought, "Well, if I were the patients(people who don't feel well), I'd be afraid to go to me too. Maybe it's time for me to stop being a doctor. But if this town has no doctor, what will the people do when they become ill?" His wife heard him talking to himself and said, "Why don't you find a young doctor _ ? Then people will have another good doctor to take care of them and I will get my husband back." The doctor did as what his wife said. He found a very good young doctor to help the people. The doctor and his wife then had time to take long walks together, go dancing, go traveling and spend the rest of their days together. The doctor's business wasn't as good as before because _ . Answer: he was old and forgetful
Two sculptures of life-size lions, each weighing about 5 tons in ancient times, have been discovered in what is now Turkey. The discovery of the massive lions, along with other pieces such as a large stone basin about 7 feet in diameter, left the archaeologists with a mystery ----what were they intended for? A search of the surrounding area revealed no evidence of a Hittite settlement dating back to the time of the statues. Also, the steep size of the sculptures meant that the sculptors likely did not intend to move them very far. Summers assumes that, rather than being meant for a palace or a great city, the lions were being created for a monument to mark something else- water "I think it's highly likely that that monument was going to be associated with one of the very abundant springs that are quite close," he said in the interview, "There are good parallels for association of Hittite sculptural traditions with water sources" Indeed one well-known monument site, known as Eflatun Pnar, holds a sacred pool that "is fed by a spring beneath the pool itself," write Yiit Erbil and Alice Mouton in an article that was published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies. The two researchers were writing about water religions in ancient Anatolia (Turkey). "According to the Hittite cuneiform texts, water was seen as an effective purifying element," Erbil and Mouton write, "used in the form of cleaning or even full baths during ritual performances, its cleaning power is self-evident." To the Hittites the natural world, springs included, was a place of great religious importance, one worthy of monuments with giant lions. "These things (water sources) were sacred, just as their mountains were sacred," Summers said. What can be inferred from the text ? A. Water was highly valued by the Hittites. B. There was a serious shortage of water in ancient Anatolia C. Lions were of great religious importance D. The Hittites used to fight over water resources. Answer: A. Water was highly valued by the Hittites. It's a goal for millions and millions of families every year----keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount, but can still afford the gifts that your loved ones will enjoy. Never has this concern been greater in recent years than right now. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help. Hit the sales. No one wants to get up at four o'clock in the morning and fight to get the best deal on Black Friday, and it's surely very tough to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal, but sometimes----it can be well worth. Many retailers offer _ all through the day----and some even offer online Black Friday specials, so you may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday. Pay close attention to advertisements. Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers hungry for business will do just about whatever to get you in the store. Pay very close attention to weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers and you may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops. Shop online. Some of us don't like running from store to store in order to get the best price on the perfect gift, and some of us don't like to go out in the cold at all----thankfully for us, we can do online shopping. The world of online shopping lets people visit all the major retailers as well as some specialty stores that could only be found on the Internet. Customers can find exactly what they are looking for, at the best possible price without ever having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping consumers are sometimes limited to what's left in stock if they wait too long to get to a particular store. In this passage the writer means _ . A. to tell us the best way to do shopping B. to attract more readers to do wise shopping C. to show us how hard it is to do Christmas shopping D. to give us advice on how to get a good deal at Christmas time Answer: D. to give us advice on how to get a good deal at Christmas time Breathing is when the lungs convert oxygen from inhaled air into A. oxygen dispersed from respiratory bronchioles through air sacs to hemoglobin proteins B. Glucose particles in the blood C. nitrogen oxide in the blood D. carbon monoxide in the blood Answer: A. oxygen dispersed from respiratory bronchioles through air sacs to hemoglobin proteins I just read about using cardboard in layers for building, but the surfaces should be waxed to keep out water. This premise is used by some _____________ to keep water in: A. balloons B. plastic bottles C. leaves D. books Answer: C. leaves If you often feel tired and the doctor can't find anything wrong with you, you may be in a state of subhealth . Subhealth is a state between health and illness. Most of the subhealthy people are middle-aged ones who are usually stressed out because of work and family. And some of them are students who are having exams. If you are subhealthy, it is not difficult for you to become well soon. You should have good living habits. For example, you should get up early and go to bed early. And you should exercise regularly . Exercising can keep you healthy. As for meals, it is better to eat less salt and sugar. Vegetables, fruit and fish are important to your body. You should eat more of them. It is not good to eat too much at one meal, because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract . And at last, a balanced diet is very helpful in staying away from subhealth. What should you do if you are subhealthy? A. Relax and have good living habits B. Go to see the doctor and ask for some medicine. C. Go to hospital in foreign countries. D. Stay at home and not talk to others Answer: A. Relax and have good living habits
Once we got home, there was barely time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our annual Christmas dinner. As we drove down the highway through town, I noticed that the family was there, standing outside the closed gas station. My father was driving very slowly down the highway. The closer we got to the turnoff for my grandparents' house, the slower the car went. Suddenly, my father U-turned in the middle of the road and said, "I can't stand it!" "What?" asked my mother. "It's those people back there at the gas station, standing in the rain. They've got children. It's Christmas. " When my father pulled into the service station, I saw that there were five of them: the parents and three children- two girls and a small boy. My father rolled down his window. "Merry Christmas," he said. "Howdy," the man replied. "You're waiting on the bus?" my father asked. The man said that they were. "Well, that bus isn't going to come along for several hours, and you're getting wet standing here. Winborn's just a couple miles up the road. They've got a shed with a cover there, and some benches," my father said. "Why don't y'all get in the car and I'll run you up there." The man thought about it for a moment, and then he beckoned to his family. They climbed into the car. They had no luggage, only the clothes they were wearing. Once they settled in, my father looked back over his shoulder and asked the children if Santa had found them yet. Three glum faces mutely gave him his answer. "Well, I didn't think so," my father said, winking at my mother, "because when I saw Santa this morning, he told me that he was having trouble finding all, and he asked me if he could leave your toys at my house. We'll just go get them before I take you to the bus stop." All at once, the three children's faces lit up, and they began to bounce around in the back seat, laughing and chattering. When we got out of the car at our house, the three children ran through the front door and straight to the toys that were spread out under our Christmas tree. That was the Christmas when my sisters and I learned the joy of making others happy. When they left, my father reached into his pocket and pulled out two dollars, which was all he had left. He pressed the money into the man's hand. The man tried to give it back, but my father insisted. "Take it. I've been broke before, and I know what it's like when you can't feed your family." We left them there at the bus stop in Winborn. As we drove away, I watched out the window as long as I could, looking back at the little girl hugging her new doll. The writer didn't get the Christmas presents, but he/she was happy. The reason was _ . A. his/her parents taught his/her a good lesson B. they learned the joy of making others happy C. they would get another presents somewhere else D. they were likely to get more presents from others Answer: B. they learned the joy of making others happy At no time in history has there been such a mass movement of people from the countryside to the city as is happening now. By the year 2030, it's estimated that more than two thirds of the world's population will be living in cities, twice as many as today. This means that the problems faced by cities today--overcrowding, poor housing, unemployment, poverty and lack of food and water--will be twice as bad, unless we find solutions soon. Another serious issue is how to provide good transportation for their citizens. Many of the world's major cities are already struggling with out-of-date transport infrastructures . How can they deal with the additional demands? London is a good example. Its enlargement was made possible by the invention of the steam engine, which powered the world's first underground railway. But its transport system are now hopelessly out-of-date and need urgent modernization. London's future success depends very much on developing better public transport. Over a million people travel into central London every day from outside the city. _ , together with the people who live in London, want a public transport system that is efficient, safe and _ . What they often get, however, falls far short of that ideal. Passengers complain about cost and pollution, while businesses worry about the problems their staff have in getting to work on time. Yes, the proportion of London households that own a car grew from just over ten percent in the early 1950s to over sixty percent today. As the city has become increasingly crowded and polluted, there has been a growing realization that action must be taken soon. The passage is mainly written to tell us that _ . A. it's difficult to solve the problem faced by cities today B. overpopulation causes the problems in cities like London C. possible solutions to cities' transport problems will be found soon D. public transport plays an important role in developments in major cities Answer: B. overpopulation causes the problems in cities like London Hello! My name is Becky Sharp. I'm 11 years old. I have one brother. His name is Jason and he's 14. I don't have any sisters. We live with our mum, dad and grandma in a small house in Chesterfield, in the north of England. There are lots of things to do here. My friends and I sometimes go to the cinema on Saturdays. Do you like sports? I like football. My favourite team is Manchester United. I sometimes play football with my brother. I am good at it but my brother isn't. I have lots of pets---one tortoise and six goldfish . I want a dog or a cat, but my mother doesn't like them. Becky's mother doesn't like _ . A. tortoises or goldfish B. tortoises or dogs C. dogs or cats D. goldfish or cats Answer: C. dogs or cats A group of old classmates, who have succeeded in their work, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaining about the stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and many cups-china , plastic and glass, some plain looking, some expensive and some lovely. The professor told them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, "Can you notice all the nice looking expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones? While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress." "What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups." "Now think about this: life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and do not change the quality of life. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cups, we fail to enjoy the coffee. So don't let the cups drive you, enjoy the coffee instead." What did the group of old classmates get together for? A. Visiting their old university professor. B. Seeing each other. C. Complaining about their stress in work and life D. Showing each other's success. Answer: A. Visiting their old university professor. On August 5 at 10:31 p.m. PST, a rover named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars, and I was lucky enough to have a front-row seat. My name is Clara, and when I was in Grade 6, I won the essay contest NASA held to name its next Mars rover. The essay I wrote was not even 250 words long, but somehow it was enough to change my life. I still remember that cold December day, sitting in a science class. I'd finished a worksheet early and decided to get a Time for Kids magazine off Mrs. Estevez's bookshelf. It was the 2008 Invention Issue, but that wasn't the only thing that caught my eye. In the magazine, there was an article about a girl who named the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The article also talked about the essay contest NASA was holding to name its next Mars rover. Before I even knew anything else about it, a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind: Curiosity. I couldn't wait for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay. That afternoon, I raced home from the bus stop, sat down at the computer and typed until my fingers ached. It turned out that I was just in time. A few days later, and the contest would have closed. Five months later, shortly after I had turned 12, I was watching a National Geographic special on mammoths when the phone rang. My mom answered, and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face. When she told me that I had won, I was happier than I could ever remember being, I screamed and ran up and down the stairs and all around the house. I completely forgot about the mammoths and did not even remember to turn off the TV until it was really late. Curiosity is such an important part of who I am. I have always been fascinated by the stars, the planets, the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl, my grandfather and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. He'd tell me stories and point out the stars. My grandfather lived in China, thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas. I loved the stars because they kept us together even when we were apart. They were always there, yet there was so much I didn't know about them. That's what I love so much about space. No matter how much we learn, it will always possess some mystery. In the past, space exploration may have been a competition to see who got somewhere first or the fastest. But now, it is one of the few things that bring people together. Science is a language that needs no translation. It doesn't matter where you're from or what you look like - you just have to have a thirst for knowledge and a passion for learning in order to succeed. People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mars. Why do we explore? My answer to that is simple: because we can; because we're curious; because we as human beings do not just stay holed up in one place. We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what's over the hill and beyond the horizon. The curiosity rover is more than just a robot. It is more than just a titanium body and aluminum wheels. Curiosity represents the hard work, passion, love and commitment of thousands of people from all over the world who were brought together by science. Science is so awesome. It is breathtaking and mind-blowing; and sometimes, it's just a little bit crazy. The discoveries we make about our world are incredibly humbling. They move us forward and have the potential to benefit all of mankind. This December it will be four years of my life that have been tied to Curiosity in some way. I've met so many amazing people through this experience, from scientists to engineers to administrators to volunteers. Their devotion and enthusiasm inspire me greatly. My journey with Curiosity and the MSL mission team has shaped the person that I am today, as well as the person I would one day like to become. I am deeply grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to have this amazing adventure. And to you, I hope your curiosity takes you far. The method the writer uses to begin the passage is _ . A. telling a story B. giving an example C. offering an explanation D. describing a scene Answer: D. describing a scene
Sheep Smarter than Thought London--Sheep, like turkeys and ostriches, are not considered the most clever animals. British scientists said last Wednesday humans may have underestimated the woolly creature. They could be much smarter than we think. Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, southern England, have shown that the animals have a good memory system and are extremely good at recognizing faces--which they think is a sure sign of intelligence. Behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick and his friends trained 20 sheep to recognize and distinguish 25 pairs of sheep faces and used electrodes to measure their brain activity , which showed they could remember 50 faces for up to two years . "If they can do that with faces, they have to have reasonable intelligence; otherwise, what is the point of having a system for remembering faces and not remembering anything else?" Kendrick said in an interview. So hours of seemingly mindless eating grass may not be so mindless after all. Kendrick believes sheep got their reputation as dumb (unable to speak, unintelligent) animals because they live in large groups and do not appear to have much individuality and are frightened of just about everything. "All animals, including humans, once they are frightened, don't tend to show signs of intelligent action," he explained. In research reported in the science journal Nature, Kendrick and his team showed that sheep, like humans, have a specialized system in the brain which allows them to distinguish between many different faces which look extremely similar. "The most important finding (of the study) is that they are able , both from a behavioral point of view and from looking at the way the brain is organized , to remember a large number of individuals for a very long time," said Kendrick. "It is a very strange system. They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans." As is known in the passage, _ . A. sheep are among the week animals B. it is not right for people to raise sheep in groups C. when sheep eat grass in the field their minds may be active D. if people feel frightened, they may become braver Answer: C The world produces about 4 billion metric tons of food a year but 1.2 to 2 billion tons is not eaten, the study by the London-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers said. It is instead thrown away. Experts say food is wasted in both rich and poor countries, but for different reasons. Elliot Woolley teaches sustainable manufacturing at Loughborough University in Britain. He spoke at the Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, which was held earlier this month in Vietnam. Mr. Woolley said in poor countries, food is usually lost while it is still in the field or during storage and transportation. He said that is because food producers there are inefficient. These businesses are unable to operate effectively without wasting materials, time or energy. But he added that once food is sold in developing countries, people usually eat everything they buy. However, people in developed countries throw away as much as half of the food they purchase. In the US, big contributors to waste include supersized portions that customers simply can't manage, and"eat as much as you want"offers in restaurants. In the UK, over-conservative sell-by dates on labels and two-for-one offers of perishable items are key factors, encouraging consumers to buy too much food to start with and to throw away items that have reached their sell-by date, but which are still edible. And efficient farming methods, transport and storage mean that most of the wastage occurs through retail and customer behavior. The British researcher called this custom"adisgrace". Elliot Woolley has created a smartphone app that he says shows users what food they have bought and when the food is about to become unsafe to eat. It also gives information on how people can combine the foods they have to make a meal. The software program is called"Pantry App". Mr. Woolley said that people who used the app reduced the amount of food they wasted by a third. But this result came from a limited experiment -- users only followed their food use for a week. Jeremy Bonvoisin is a student at the Technical University of Berlin. He attended the recent conference in Vietnam. He said one way to solve the problem of wasting food is to take steps to persuade people to stop buying so much food in the first place. He said people buy more food than they need because it is becoming less costly. They waste so much food because they buy more than they need. He said the new app could help those who already want to change the way they use the food they buy. But he is also worried that it could get people to waste more food because they no longer have to pay attention to how much they have bought. Which of the following is not the function of Pantry APP? A. It informs people of the kind of food they've purchased. B. It warns people how long the food remains safe to eat. C. It gives people some instructions on how to cook. D. It tells people how much food they have wasted. Answer: D The landmark success of Tu Youyou, the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel prize in science, has aroused great national pride and hopes on the future of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Tu, born in 1930, shared the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Irish-born William Campbell and Japan's Satoshi Omura for her discoveries against malaria . She discovered Artemisinin , a drug that has greatly reduced the death number for patients suffering from malaria. "Artemisinin is a gift for the world people from the traditional Chinese medicine. It is of great importance for curing malaria and other diseases and for protecting the health of the world people," Tu said in Beijing. " The discovery of Artemisinin is a successful example of collective research on traditional Chinese medicine. The prize winning is an honor for China's science cause and traditional Chinese medicine." "Tu's winning the Nobel Prize shows China's great progress in science and technology. It also shows China's growing strength and rising international standing," Premier Li Keqiang said in a letter Monday evening. What is the best title of the passage? A. Cheers, hopes as Chinese pharmacologist wins Nobel prize. B. William Campbell, Satoshi Omura and Youyou Tu win Nobel prize C. The discovery of Artemisinin is a very successful example of research. D. The breaking news makes at least tens of thousands of people excited. Answer: D There is a long history behind the first T-shirts and today's colorful outerwear . Many stories talk about the first T-shirts and the reason why people wear them. One says the first T-shirt had something to do with war. In World War I Some American soldiers found that European soldiers' undershirts were cooler and more comfortable. They started to wear the same kind. Because the design of the undershirts was simple and looked like the letter T, Americans called the clothes T-shirts. By World War II Many soldiers started to wear T-shirts as under-wear. In the 1930s Many American students started wearing white T-shirts for playing sports. In 1951 Marlon Brando, a very famous American actor, wore a tight-fitting T-shirt in a film. After this, many American men started to dress like him. In the 1970s T-shirts became the favorite kind of clothing for young people in many countries. At that time, they were a sign of being cool and different from others. In the 1980s T-shirts started to be hot in China. Now many young people show their own ideas on their T-shirts; special pictures, funny words... T-shirts are more like artworks than just simple summer wear Who first wore T-shirts according to the passage? A. American students. B. American soldiers. C. European soldiers. D. European students. Answer: C For centuries ,the only form of written correspondence was the letter .Letters were ,and are ,sent by some form of postal service ,the history of which goes back a long way. Indeed ,the Egyptians began sending letters from about 2000 BC, as did the Chinese a thousand years later. Of course ,modern postal services now are much more developed and faster ,depending as they do on cars and planes for delivery .Yet they are still too slow for some people to send urgent documents and letters. The invention of the fax machine increased the speed of delivering documents even more .When you send a fax ,you are sending a copy of a piece of correspondence to someone by telephone service .It was not until the early 1980s that such a service was developed enough for businesses to be able to fax documents to each other. The fax service is still very much in use when copies of documents require to be sent ,but ,as a way of fast correspondence, it has been largely taken the place of by email. Email is used to describe messages sent from one computer user to another. There are advantages and disadvantages with emails. If you send someone and email, then he will receive it extremely quickly. Normal postal services are rather slow as far as speed of delivery is concerned. However ,if you write something by email ,which you might later regret ,and send it immediately ,there is no chance for second thoughts. At least ,if you are posting a letter you have to address and seal the envelope and take it to the post box .There is plenty of time to change your mind. The message is think before you email! We can learn from the text that_. A. email is less popular than the fax service B. the postal service has over the years become faster C. the postal service has over the years become slower D. the fax service has a history as long as the postal service does Answer: C
Question: In their last moment before the flight took off, I heard a father saying to his daughter, "I love you, I wish you enough." The daughter said, "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough to." They kissed goodbye and the daughter left. I could see the father was very sad. Suddenly the father walked towards me and asked me, "Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing it would be the last time?" His words made me think of my father. Realizing that my father's days were limited , I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I understood what this father was experiencing. "Yes, I did." I answered, "But why is this a last goodbye?" "I am old and my daughter lives much too far away. Maybe her next trip back will be for my funeral ," he said. "When you were saying goodbye, I heard you say 'I wish you enough'. What does that mean?" He began to smile. "My parents used to say it to me. When we say 'I wish you enough', we want the other person to have a life filled with enough good things." He stopped for a moment and continued, "I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate (, ) the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life seem much bigger... I wish you enough 'Hellos' to get you through the final 'Goodbye'". He then said goodbye to me and walked away. In the passage, "I wish you enough" means that we wish _ . A. the other person as much sunshine as possible B. each other a good life. C. the other person as many good things as possible D. it enough rain Answer: C. the other person as many good things as possible Question: Tsunami is a natural disaster, which is a Japanese word that means "sea wave". A tsunami is a huge sea wave that forms mainly in the Pacific Ocean area. People die and property is destroyed when a tsunami hits land. What causes these dangerous sea waves? Sometimes, tsunamis are caused when earthquakes take place underwater. Then, water begins to move up and down from the top of the ocean right down to the bottom. Waves begin to form, and each wave is called a tsunami. A tsunami is less than one meter high and can move at a speed of almost 800 kilometers per hour while it is far out in the ocean. But the tsunami rises much higher and moves more slowly as it comes closer to land. The weather bureau warns people over the radio and television when a tsunami is heading for land. These warnings have helped save many lives. As the tsunami moves toward land, it _ . A. picks up more speed B. becomes far less dangerous C. rises higher and higher D. rises lower and lower Answer: C. rises higher and higher Question: Childhood was an illusion and the illusion was this: everything was bigger. No, I mean everything, not just houses and shops and grown-ups, but colors and flowers and journeys, especially journeys which seemed endless. "Are we there yet, Daddy?" Funfairs were huge things that spread for miles around you with noise and lights and exciting danger. Rainy days at home when you were ill seemed to last for ever. Being a grown-up yourself was an unthinkable distant possibility. Every sound was louder, every game was grander, every pain unbearable. As I've grown old, life has become smaller. Tastes have dulled. Surprises have turned into shocks. Days go by unnoticed. How can I regain childhood when it was an illusion? I have only one repeatable and wonderful way and even in this way I can regain only part of that larger world. I can play upon the stage like a child and make the crowd laugh and laugh with them, sometimes helplessly like a child, and then, even though I'm a sixty-one-year-old man, I can almost catch the colors and sounds and stillness of those bigger years when I was little. The author enjoys playing on the stage so as to _ . A. act like a child B. live an unusual life C. make the crowd laugh D. regain his childhood Answer: D. regain his childhood Question: Morgan is very happy these days. She is in Grade 7 at L.B Clarke Middle School, the USA. She gives her journals to the teacher. She writes them in the summer holiday. She says, "I read many books to finish them." In the summer holiday, most schools in the USA ask students to read. But L.B.Clarke starts a program this year. Students write their journals three times a week. The journals are about books they read or their everyday life. _ says a teacher in the school, "Our program also asks them to read, but in a different way." Caroline, another student, finishes six journals. She writes about her favourite books and family trips. "The program helps me learn new things," she says, "and if I forget something, I can look in my journals." How often do the students write journals? A. Twice a week. B. Twice a month. C. Three times a week D. Three times a month. Answer: C. Three times a week Question: Do you want to know something about the history of weather? Don't look at the sky. Don't look for old weather reports. Looking at tree rings is more important. Correct weather reports date back only one century, but some trees can provide an exact record of the weather even further back. It is natural that a tree would grow best in a climate with plenty of sunlight and rainfall. It is also expected that little sunlight and rainfall would limit the growth of a tree. The change from a favorable to an unfavorable climate can be determined by reading the pattern of rings in a tree trunk. To find the weather of ten years ago, count the rings of a tree trunk from the outside to the inside. If the tenth ring is far from the other rings, then it is certain that plenty of sunny and rainy weather occurred. If the rings are closed together, then the climate was bad for the tree. Studying tree rings is important not only for the history of weather, but also for the history of man. In a region of New Mexico you can find only sand---no trees and no people. However, many centuries ago a large population lived there. They left suddenly. Why? A scientist studied patterns of dead tree rings which had grown there. He decided that the people had to leave because they had cut down all the trees. Trees were necessary to make fires and buildings. So, after the people destroyed the trees, they had to move. In this instance studying tree rings uncovers an exciting fact about the history of man. By studying the dead tree rings, the scientist discovered _ . A. .where the people had left. B. what the people used to eat C. how the people left D. why the people had to leave Answer: D. why the people had to leave
In winter Hammerfest is a thirty-hour ride by bus from Oslo, though why anyone would want to go there in winter is a question worth considering. It is on the edge of the world, the northernmost town in Europe, as far from London as London is from Tunis, a place of dark and cruel winters, where the sun sinks into the Arctic Ocean in November and does not rise again for ten weeks.I wanted to see the Northern Lights. Also, I had long harboured a half-formed urge to experience what life was like in such a remote and forbidding place. Sitting at home in England with a glass of whisky and a book of maps, this had seemed an excellent idea. But now as I picked my way through the grey, late-December slush of Oslo I was beginning to have my doubts. Things had not started well. I had overslept at the hotel, missing breakfast, and had to leap into my clothes. I couldn't find a cab and had to drag my unreasonably overweighted bag eight blocks through slush to the central bus station. I had had huge difficulty persuading the staff at the Kreditkassen Bank on Karl Johans Gate to cash sufficient traveller's cheques to pay the overcharged 1,200-kroner bus fare-they simply could not be made to grasp that the William McGuire Bryson on my passport and the Bill Bryson on my traveller's cheques were both me-and now here I was arriving at the station two minutes before departure, breathless and steaming from the endless uphill exertion that is my life, and the girl at the ticket counter was telling me that she had no record of my reservation. "This isn't happening," I said. "I'm still at home in England enjoying Christmas.Pass me a drop more port, will you, darling?" Actually, I said, "There must be some mistake. Please look again." The girl studied the passenger list. "No, Mr Bryson, your name is not here" But I could see it, even upside-down. "There it is, second from the bottom,, "No," the girl decided, "that says Bemt Bjornson. That's a Norwegian name" "It doesn't say Bernt Bjornson. It says Bill Bryson. Look at the loop of the 'y', the two 'I's. Miss, please." But she wouldn't have it. "If I miss this bus when does the next one go?""Next week at the same time.,, Oh, splendid. "Miss, believe me, it says Bill Bryson." "No, it doesn't." "Miss, look, I've come from England. I'm carrying some medicine that could save a child's life."She didn't buy this. "I want to see the manager." "He's in Stavanger." "Listen, I made a reservation by telephone.If I don't get on this bus I'm going to write a letter to your manager that will cast a shadow over your career prospects for the rest of this century." This clearly did not alarm her. Then it occurred to me. "If this Bemt Bjornson doesn't show up, can I have his seat?" "Sure." Why don't I think of these things in the first place and save myself the suffering? "Thank you," I said, and dragged my bag outside. We can learn from the passage that _ . Answer: About 3 months ago, my father was in hospital recovering from a major lung operation. My mother had recently passed away, and my father had taken the loss of his partner of 58 years very hard and had lost interest in life. It was quite difficult to try to get him to eat each day as he didn't want anything. The one thing, however, that he would ask us to bring him was ice cream. One evening, to our surprise, he refused to eat the ice cream, so I placed it in a staffroom refrigerator. A little while later, my son said he wanted it, so I fetched it for him. As I passed another ward , a woman asked, "Are there more where that came from?" When I explained, she seemed very disappointed. She then said that she had cancer and could eat very little other than the occasional ice cream. The next evening, I decided to buy two ice creams. On the way to dad's room, I came into the sick woman's room, and offered her the ice cream I'd bought for her. She was totally astonished that I had thought of her, and accepted the gift with tears in her eyes. I spoke with her for a few minutes, explaining what was happening in my family and listened to her similar story of pain and suffering. It was _ that she did not have many visitors. I repeated the gesture a few days later, and this time I received a warm hug. I never even thought to ask her name and never saw her again, but it made me realize that a simple act of kindness can bring joy to a person's unfortunate life. ,. Form this passage we can learn that _ . Answer: Shane Thomas is a 10-year-old pianist from England. He's being called the next Mozart because of his amazing abilities. He has only been having piano lessons for four months, and practices four hours a week, but he has already played difficult classical pieces. He was just seven when he sat down at the piano, and could play at once. He also says he never gets nervous. When Shane was three years old, he said that he could play the piano, but nobody took him seriously. At school, he could listen to the teacher and do his work while composing in his head. Shame remembers all the melodies ,and when he gets home he plays them on the piano, while his father records them. Shane loves playing the piano, and when he grows up he wants to be a composer. His tutor, Richard Goffin-Lecar, says he is like Amadeus Mozart, who lived during the 18thcentury in Salzburg, Austria, and was one of the most famous composers ever. Mr. Goffin-lecar says, "I don't teach Shane very much. I just give him directions, then sit back and watch." His father, a single parent with two other children, says that although he has little money, he wants to send Shane to a good music school. "I'm a single father, but I have this gifted child. I don't have much money, but I want to give him the best teachers, and also take him into a studio to record." Which of the following is TRUE about Shane? Answer: April 23 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. Organizations in Britain have planned numerous events to honor him. In Stratford-upon-Avon, his birthplace, the tourism organization has a great number of free events, including performances of Shakespeare's plays, and a dazzling fireworks display. And the BBC is broadcasting a live show from Stratfore-upon-Avon, celebrating Shakespeare's widespread influence on the world. In England's capital, the London Shakespeare Centre and King's College London are holding a series of public performances, exhibitions and activities. It isn't just England that honors the anniversary of the death of this extraordinary writer. In Washington, D. C., the Folger Shakespeare Library, which houses the world's largest collection of documents relating to William Shakespeare, is displaying a series of exhibitions. Shakespeare is probably the most famous author who ever lived an is considered a genius by most. He wrote around 37 plays and 154 sonnets , and his work has been translated into over one hundred languages! He penned beautiful metaphors , serious dramas and amusing tales. Shakespeare also invented many new terms and phrases. If someone's behavior suggested they were not being honest and should not be trusted, Shakespeare called their actions suspicious. If someone was being silly and perhaps looking like a fool, Shakespeare found their actions laughable. And Shakespeare called people who offered their opinions on the quality of something critics. Today, for instance, food critics and film critics give audiences their opinions of food and film. The familiar phrase "break the ice" comes from Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew. The "ice is broken" when a difficult conversation or meeting is calmed by some basic introduction, such as a simple game. More common words coined by Shakespeare include road, gossip, lonely, bump and hurry. Four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare surely lives on, in everyday speech, as the most famous writer of all time! According to the next, a simply game to make a difficult conversation easy is called _ . Answer: It was a great day for American girl D' Zhana Simmons when she got a new heart. However, her dream died when the new heart started not to work properly. The doctors had to take it away. She needed another heart transplant . But the doctors couldn't find a proper heart so soon. Then they came up with an idea -- they would use two machines to keep her blood _ in her body. After waiting for about four months, D' Zhana had another heart transplant. It was very successful. When doctors use a man-made heart to keep a patient's life, they usually leave the patient's own heart in the body. "She, we believe, is possibly one of the youngest that had the machines without her own heart," one of D' Zhana Simmons' doctors said. Living without a heart for 118 days -- that's great. When a heart transplant doesn't work, doctors have no time to waste. If they don't get a new heart or some machines to help the patient, he or she will die. The patient's life is in their hands. This story once again shows how important the medical world really can be. I hope that one day I will be a doctor. I hope I can be so quick and helpful to my patients. Which of the following is true according to the passage? Answer:
Question: Thank you for choosing Yale University housing. The following information should answer questions you may have about housing services. Housing office There is a housing office in the New Residence Hall and is open seven days a week, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., for check-in and check-out. You can call the assistants there for any questions about housing. Telephone: 436-4119. Or if you are moving in, you can call Housekeeping at 436-4108 and ask to have your rooms cleaned. Common Room and Meeting Rooms The building has a common room (BO77) for the use of guests for studying and gathering. Do not leave personal things in the common room. Close any windows you open when you leave the room. The meeting rooms 223 (for 10 people) and 323 (for 18 people) each have a television and a VCR. You don't need to reserve the common room and for reservation of meeting rooms, please call the Housing Office. Computer Rooms There are two computer rooms (221 &421) in the building. They offer Macintoshes, Windows computers, and printing to guests. These computers are maintained by Yale University's Computing Assistants (www.yale.edu/cas Tel:436-5990). If you have any problems, for example, if there's no printer paper, please report it to the housing office. Telephone Service Each room is equipped with a telephone. Your telephone number is 436-4 followed by your room number (for example, Room 112, tel.436-4112). To call a university number, press the last five numbers only. To make a call outside the university, press 9 first and then the number. When you want to book a room in the New Residence Hall, you should call . A. 436-4119 B. 436-5990 C. 436-4112 D. 436-4108 Answer: A. 436-4119 Question: Our historic1740 Shenandoah Valley Bed and Breakfast is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the beauty and history of the Valley. Once a haven against Indian attacks on the Virginia frontier and later Stonewall Jackson's headquarters during the Valley Campaign of 1862, our Shenandoah Valley inn(small hotel) now welcomes travelers looking for comfortable bed and board and friendly welcome. On Route11,the Old Valley Turnpike, only two miles from Interstate 81 at Woodstock, the inn has a country atmosphere on five private acres along the Shenandoah River. The inn offers 12 guest rooms, a well-equipped meeting room for small managing meetings, many common areas, and lovely grounds to host sendoffs and family gatherings. A hearty Inn at Narrow Passage breakfast will get your day off to a great start! If you have special food needs, tell us ahead of time, and we will try to have just what you need. "We had a wonderful four-day stay. Quiet and peaceful with the warmth of fireplaces in the room and bar to comfort and relax you. Ed and Ellen make you feel like family. Breakfast was outstanding." A visitor said. After a busy day of hiking or sightseeing, return for a cool drink on the porch in summer or hot, spiced tea by the fire in winter. In the evening, walk down to the river to feed the ducks, or maybe spend a little time fishing. We hope you'll be able to visit us soon. We'll do all we can to make your stay a happy one. The inn along Shenandoah River is _ . A. beautiful B. expensive C. cheap D. small Answer: D. small Question: It would be hard to find a person in America who has never eaten a hamburger, but this popular food was not originally made in America. The original hamburger can be traded back to the Middle Ages, when Russians ate raw meat that was scraped and shredded with a dull knife and formed into patties , It was called Tartar steak. This was the first step in a long series of developments that eventually resulted in hamburger as we know it today. German sailors picked up the raw meat delicacy in their contacts with Russians and brought it back to their home port of Hamburg. But the people there were unused to eating raw meat , so they broiled the outside of the Russian steak; thus the hamburger steak was born. The hamburger steak was brought ot America in the nineteenth century immigrants. Louis Lasssen, a cook in New Haven, Connecticut, modified the hamburger steak by sandwiching it between two pieces of bread. But the true American hamburger came into existence in St. Louis at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. A harried cook at the fair quickly slapped broiled beef patties between buns and served them to a demanding crowd, which gulped them down joyously. At first this new food creation was made from scraps of poorer cuts of meat that were not used for anything else, but before scrapes were not enough. The demand for greater quantities of hamburger could only be met by using more and better cuts . Hamburger stands sprang up all over the country, and a side industry of condiments , such as ketchup and relish, grew We can infer from the passage that the citizens of hamburger _ . A. liked only fresh raw meat B. thought the Russians very clever C. were slow in taking on new customs D. found raw meat unappetizing Answer: D. found raw meat unappetizing Question: Researchers have announced the result of two studies on the health effects of the drug aspirin.One study shows aspirin can sharply reduce the chance that a healthy, older man will suffer from a heart attack. The study offered two new results from earlier findings, It said taking one aspirin pili every other day helped only healthy men over the age of fifty.It also said aspirin gave the greatest protection against heart attacks to men with low blood cholesterol levels. Earlier in the United States began a major aspirin study in the early 1980s.It included 22,000 healthy men doctors.Ail were between the ages of forty and eighty-four.More than 11,000 of the doctors took a harmless pill that contained no drug.The men did not know which kind of pill they were taking. The doctors who took aspirin suffered 44% fewer heart attacks than those taking the harmless pill.139 men who took aspirin suffered from heart attacks.Ten of them died.239 men who did not take aspirin suffered from heart attacks.Twenty-six of them died. The researchers said the doctors' study provides clear proof that taking aspirin can prevent a first heart attack in healthy, older men.They said, however, the result does not mean every man over the mage of fifty should take aspirin.They said aspirin couldn't help men who do not eat healthy foods, who smoke cigarettes and who are fat.The researchers said men who think they wou3d be helped by taking aspirin should talk with their doctors first. We may learn that the new use of aspirin is _ . A. to treat heart disease B. to reduce the chance of a heart attack in old men C. to protect old men D. to reduce the blood cholesterol levels Answer: B. to reduce the chance of a heart attack in old men Question: Bali is a tiny island that is part of Indonesia today. It is a pretty island that has many mountains and a pleasant climate. For a long time, Bali was cut off from much of the world. The people of Bali were happy and had a peaceful life. They were not allowed to fight. At one time there had been terrible wars on Bali. Then the people decided it was wrong to fight or have wars. They made rules to keep apart those people who wanted to fight. Bali was divided into seven small kingdoms. The land around each kingdom was kept empty, and no one lived there. Since the kingdoms did not share the same borders , the people could not fight about them. On Bali, even children were not allowed to fight. If two children started a fight over a toy, someone separated them. When two boys argued, they would agree not to speak to each other. Sometimes they did not talk together for months; this gave the boys a chance to forget their anger. Families who were angry with each other also promised not to speak. Their promise was written down, and the whole village knew about it. If they broke their promise, they had to offer gifts to their gods. Bali is an island belonging to _ . A. Europe B. Africa C. Asia D. America Answer: C. Asia
Today, people want to keep healthy through sports and exercise. But some of them have some wrong ideas about it. "A plate of chicken is a good meal before games because it has much energy." In fact, the best meal before games should have carbohydrates . Food like potatoes, bread, bananas are rich (......) in it, but chicken and meat are not. "The best time to exercise is early in the morning." No. Morning is a good time to exercise, but it may not be suitable for you. If an afternoon or evening period is suitable for you, and you enjoy the feeling of getting healthier, you can choose any time to exercise. So there is no _ time for you to exercise. "If you drink water when you exercise, you'll feel tired." The fact is that you must have some water during breaks when you exercise. And after exercising, you must have enough water. If you don't drink enough water, then you may feel tired. "Exercising every day is quite important." Wrong. Too much exercise is bad for our health. You need to give your body a day of rest. Which of the following will be the best title ? A Results of sports and exercise. B Best time for sports and exercise. C Reasons for sports and exercise. D Wrong ideas about sports and exercise. Answer: D Commander was my parents` cat but I knew him first. In fact, Commander was my college roommate`s cat. My roommate wanted to sell Commander, but no one would buy him. I called my parents to see if they would like to adopt him. My mom had always loved cats but my dad disliked cats very much. As predicted my dad said, "No way. No cats" Fortunately for me, my dad was out of town at a math conference. So I brought Commander home. By the time he returned, both my mom and Commander had decided that Commander was going to stay. My mom said that Commander was going to live at our house for a "trial period" while we looked for a buyer. As the months went by there was absolutely no effort to sell Commander and it became clear to my dad that Commander was there to stay. Commander started sitting by my dad as he read the newspaper and slowly my dad began to like Commander---just a little bit. By the time I came home that summer, I was surprised to see my dad carrying Commander around the house. Over the years, my parents` love for Commander grew to the point where they could not imagine life without him. Once I finished college, my parents built their dream house and they named the floor plan The Commander! They worked with the architect to design the house so that it was perfectly suited both for them and for Commander. Commander died at the age of eighteen. My mom still talks about him often and misses him, and so does my dad, which proves that not even the most determined cat-hating human being in the world can resist the charms of a cat once the cat decides he is moving in to your heart. When the author`s dad returned from the conference, _ . A the author had decided to sell Commander. B the author`s roommate sold commander to someone else C the author`s mother decided to keep Commander D the author`s mother started looking for a buyer Answer: C Monarch Butterflies One of the last West Coast homes of the Monarch butterfly,a type of insect ,may soon disappear.Strangely,it is in a town that calls itself Butterfly U.S.A,Pacific Grove, California. The town of Pacific Grove loves the butterflies.Every year they have a parade and hundreds of children dress up as butterflies.Monarch butterflies are the town _ .Tourism is very important,and many people come to see the butterflies.The butterflies are good for the development of the town. In 1981 there were so many butterflies it looked like it was raining butterflies.Tens of thousands of Monarchs stayed on tree branches near Pacific Grove.Now there are not so many. The building goes on a little bit at a time,and you don't notice it day by day.Over time,you can see that there has been a lot of development.As new buildings go up,many trees are cut down. This reduces the natural homes for the butterflies. Monarchs travel hundreds of miles each year,returning to the same woods,often to the same trees.The female Monarchs need milkweed to lay their eggs;the males will follow the females. Millions of Monarchs have traveled regularly along the same path for thousands of years.They start their trip in the mountains of Mexico and travel to the middle part of America.If the woods where the butterflies live are destroyed,the whole species could be lost.There have been Monarch butterflies along the coast of California for as long as man can remember,but no one is sure how much longer they will last. Why are Monarch butterflies important to Pacific Grove? A They may disappear. B They come to stay every year. C They help develop the town's tourism. D They give a name to Pacific Grove. Answer: C 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.' " Why did David Pecaut have the idea of founding a new Ganada Prize? A To enlarge the content of the Luminato festival. B To advance Canada's honor and opportunities. C To consider his own benefits from the prize. D To make more Canadians get world prizes. Answer: B A girl complained to her father about her hard life. She didn't know what she had to do and wanted to give up. She felt tired of fighting and fighting. One problem had been finished but another came over. Her father, a cook, took her into the kitchen. He poured water into three pans and boiled them. After boiling, in the first pan was put some carrots, the second was put some eggs and the last was put with coffee. The girl waited impatiently, confused by what her father did. About 20 minutes later, her father took out the carrots and put them in a bowl. He took the eggs and put them in a bowl. After that the coffee was poured into a cup. "My sweet heart, what do you see?" he asked. "Carrots, eggs and coffee." she replied. Her father told her to close her eyes and asked her to touch the carrots. She did so and felt that the carrots were soft. After that he asked her to take the eggs and break them. After peeling them, she got the eggs, cooked and hard. The last, the father let her smell the coffee. She asked, "What did you do this for, father?" He explained that each had the same unlucky experience -- the boiling water, but each had a different result. The strong and hard carrots had become soft and weak. The _ eggs became hard after being cooked. The coffee was very special, it could change water. "Who are you?" asked her father. "When bad luck knocks at your door, what is your decision? Are you carrots, eggs or coffee?" After about twenty minutes,the carrots became _ . A soft B hard C salty D sweet Answer: A
Some people remember the things by writing notes to themselves. Then they leave the notes in obvious places, such as on the table or on the floor in the middle of the living room. I don't think I like to write notes to myself. Most of the time I lose them or forget to look at them until it's too late. I prefer to use an alarm clock to tell me what I should do. I have ten alarm clocks in my house. They could tell me about things. For example, if I have to make a telephone call at a certain time, I'll set an alarm clock to go off a few minutes early and put the clock by the telephone. Or if I want to watch a certain television program, I'll set an alarm clock at the right time and put the clock on top of the TV set. I can remember almost anything if I use my clocks. However, sometimes an alarm clock goes off and I don't know what it means. I always remember setting it, but I do not know why I set it. If the clock is by the telephone, I know I may have set it to tell me to call someone, but I can't be sure. I might have set it to tell myself that somebody was to call me at a certain time. I often use _ to help me remember things. Answer: alarm clocks Producers in the food chain Answer: are self sufficient Astronomy is the oldest science known to man. Thousands of years ago man looked at the stars and wondered about the heavens. But man was limited by what he could see with his eyes alone. The Greeks studied astronomy over 2,000 years ago. They could see the size, color, and brightness of a star. They could see its place in the sky. They watched the stars move as the seasons changed. But the Greeks had no tools to help themselves study the heavens. Each new tool added to the field of astronomy helped man reach out into space. They did not know that the planet called Saturn had rings around it. Their sight was so limited that they could not see all the planets. In the early 1700s, people thought there were only six planets. Nepture , the last of eight planets to be discovered, was not seen until 1846. Before the spectroscope , man did not know what kind of gases was in the sun or other stars. Without the radio telescope, we didn't know that radio noises came from far out in space. Today, astronomy is a growing science. We had learned more in the last fifty years than in the whole history of astronomy. . Thousands of years ago, people observed the stars with the limitation of their _ . Answer: eyesight I'm Adam Gun from Istanbul, Turkey. I'm in a good school. And at the age of 15, in my first year of high school. I'm a great fan of tennis and cycling. I play tennis twice a week for two hours each time. Sometimes I want to play more, but I just keep playing for hours on end, never getting tired of doing it. This is one of the rare things I love in my life, in addition to cycling. Like tennis, I find that I'm able to ride for ever and ever. Since Istanbul is made up of large and small hills, it's a nice challenge to ride my bike every day. Although there aren't many cycling places in Istanbul, I'm lucky enough to live near the biggest park. It's downhill from my house to the park and I enjoy cycling up as much as floating down, because it's challenging. Now I have been thinking about being a lawyer and following my father's footsteps, but I just don't think I'm _ it. I have heard people tell me over and over again: If you want to be happy with your life, you need to like and enjoy your job. Well, I'm not sure about the fact that I will enjoy being a lawyer when I grow up. I'm just not the type of person who sits down and studies for hours. So I just need opinions on whether to become a tennis player(hopefully), to become a cyclist(hopefully) or to become a lawyer. What's Adam Gun's problem? Answer: He isn't certain about his future career. College is not just about studying, writing essays and burning the midnight oil in the library. Making friends and enjoying yourself is also necessary for the courses. Parties are social events for students to gather and chat with each other. Drinking and music College parties in the US are always lacking in creativity and full of wine and music. The basic form rarely changes -- drink until you cannot anymore and play loud music at an earthshaking volume. There is plenty of beer involved, and some mixed cocktails. Creativity in dress The creativity comes in how parties are dressed up. Parties often have a specific theme, like a 90s party or a sports party. At a 90s party, guests might show up dressed like oncefamous celebrities. At a sports party, guests might wear their favorite team's uniforms. Held in apartments The party is usually held in the apartment of a particular outgoing friend. Everyone will be invited, which means strangers will wander in and out of the apartment where you can get to know and make some new friends. Ugly sweater party On holidays, parties frequently take on a proper theme. A popular theme around Christmas is the ugly sweater party. The goal is to wear the ugliest sweater you can find, creating an atmosphere of fun. Whatever the occasion is, there will be no shortage of _ . If you are smart enough, you won't have so much as to lose your consciousness. Parties are always better when you can remember them the next day. The passage is probably written for _ in colleges. Answer: the freshmen
The first step in the construction of a building typically involves 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! Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? There are many differences between British English and American English.I used to teach a course about the differences between the two.We speak English on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean but we have many differences in our common language.We have examples of the same words having very d ifferent meanings,differing spellings of the same words as well as completely different words for the same things.Here are some examples. A cookie in the US is called a biscuit in the UK.A biscuit in the US is a small cake in the UK.Crisps in the UK,are known as chips,but we British people eat a plate of chips that you call fries in the US.In the UK,a pie can be made from either meat or fruit,while in the US pies are normally made from fruit;pot pies are made from meat.Most things are measured in grams and kilograms in the US,not pounds and ounces. One very obvious difference is the side of the road we each choose to drive on.Petrol in the UK is gas in the US.The place where we fill up our cars,in the UK,is a garage;while in the US,it's a gas station.The term garage is also used as a place to store your car next to or close by your house.In the UK we call a lorry what is known as a truck in the US. An elevator in the US is called a lift here,and the first floor in the US,is calle d the ground floor here,so many visitors get off on the wrong floor in British hotels. I could continue with this. There are countless examples of differences within our one shared language.With so many differences,no wonder it's hard to understand each other well. It's implied in the passage that the author may be _ . About a year ago, I went to stay at a Detroit hotel. I didn't want to carry too much money with me, so I asked the desk clerk to put a one-hundred-dollar bill in the safe for me. The next morning, however, the clerk said he knew nothing about my money. I didn't have any proof that I had given the man the money. There was nothing I could do but go to the nearest lawyer. The lawyer advised me to return to the hotel with him and give another one-hundred-dollar bill to the clerk. This I did. An hour later, I went back to the desk alone and asked for my money. Since I had the lawyer as an eyewitness to the second one-hundred-dollar bill, the clerk could not say he knew nothing about it. Another hour later, I put the second part of the lawyer's plan into action. This time both the lawyer and I went to the hotel. I asked for the one-hundred-dollar bill once again, and when the clerk insisted he had already given it to me, I denied it. The lawyer said to him, "I saw this gentleman give you a hundred dollars. If you don't hand it over immediately, I'll be forced to call the police." The clerk realized he had been tricked, so he gave me back the first one-hundred-dollar bill. "I don't know how to thank you enough for getting my money back," I said to the lawyer. And what do you suppose he answered me? He said, "Oh, don't thank me. That will be a hundred dollars, please." What is probably the author's feeling when he heard the last sentence? In the mid 1990s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies which sold things in stores. Then, there were Internet companies which didn't have stores, they sold things only over the Net. Traditional companies didn't want to lose any business. Quickly, they created their own websites and began selling things over the Net. These are the so-called "brick and click" companies. Many stores are made of brick, and you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That's where the name "brick and click" comes from. By the late 1990s, e-businesses like Amazon.com, Buy.com, and eToys.com were in trouble. Their profits were not very high, and there was a lot of competition. Many of these businesses lost a lot of money, and in 2000, many e-businesses were out of business. In the world of e-commerce , companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will brick and click companies win the war? Only time will tell. Which would be a brick and click company?
Located along California's San Andreas Fault, the city of San Francisco is likely to take precautions(,) in the event of the next big earthquake. According to aNew York Timesreport, emergency planners in San Francisco are not only thinking of human evacuation(,) plans in the event of an earthquake, but also of how to care for pets during a natural disaster. Ideally, the planners will be able to train pet-disaster responders who work to evacuate dogs, cats and other household pets from the disaster site to one of the 125 temporary animal shelters that will be set up or, if the pet is injured, it will be brought to an emergency animal medical unit where there will be people on hand to tend to the pet's injury. The city's "no-pets-left-behind" policy results from the great number of pet deaths during the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. As emergency responders arrived to rescue people isolated in their homes during Katrina, hurricane victims were told that they could not take their pets along with them when evacuating; thus, many pet owners were forced to make the heart-breaking decision to save themselves while leaving their pets behind to perhaps meet their deaths. Since then, the U.S. has passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006, allocating federal funds for animal disaster planning projects. Yet, not all counties are as progressive as San Francisco has been in the effort to protect pets in the event of a natural disaster. Pets are after all, a large part of San Francisco's population -- overnumbering the number of school age children in the city. Over the last three years, San Francisco has received $350,000 in federal funds _ to animal disaster preparedness efforts in order to protect animals in the case of a disaster such as an earthquake. The city is still working on obtaining $300,000 to pay for an emergency animal unit. Until then, animal lovers in San Francisco will continue to work to ensure that pets are never an afterthought when it comes to rescues during earthquakes or other life threatening situations. What's the main idea of this passage? A How to take precautions in the earthquake. B Human evacuation plans in the earthquake. C Taking steps to care for pets during a natural disaster. D How to train pets to escape from a disaster. Answer: C. Taking steps to care for pets during a natural disaster. There are many places around the city and online to buy Las Vegas show tickets. With dozens of websites you can find at home, ticket box offices, Tix 4 Tonight (one of the two half-price ticket sellers) locations, and ticket sellers along the Las Vegas trip, you might wonder where you could find your best deal. Major Shows If you want to see one of the top shows in Las Vegas, you could buy your tickets online before your trip. Many of these shows sell out months ahead of time, so make sure you do your research. Best Place to Buy Discounted Tickets If you want discounted tickets for Las Vegas shows, you should go to one of the four Tix 4 Tonight locations. These locations get tickets early in the morning or throughout the day if shows are not sold out. Do not expect to find discounted tickets here for the hottest shows in town such as one-night concerts or shows like Celine Dion's. These seldom make their way to Tix 4 Tonight. Coupon books As you walk along the Las Vegas Strip, you are going to come across people handing out the Vegas Values coupon books or other coupons. These may help you find discounted coupons for various shows around town. Tickets bought with coupons have to be bought at the box office for the show. These are usually located near the theater used for the show. On-Strip Sellers If you see people standing on the Strip selling show tickets, make sure you avoid them. While a few of these sellers might be legitimate ,they often cheat people by selling counterfeit tickets. Catching a show in Las Vegas is one of the various activities people take part in every single day. While there is not one set place to be the best to buy tickets, make sure you get to see the show you want. In which part of a newspaper could we find the text? A Business. B News. C Travel. D Sports. Answer: C. Travel. An important question about eating out is who pays for the meal. If a friend of yours asks you to have lunch with him, you may say something like this, " I'm afraid it'll have to be somewhere cheap, as I have little money." The other person may say, "OK, I'll meet you at McDonald' s." This means that the two agree to go Dutch, that is, each person pays for himself. He may also say, "Oh, no, I want to take you to lunch at Smith's." or " I want you to try the Chinese dumplings there. They are great." This means the person wants to pay for both of you. If you feel friendly towards the person, you can go with him and you needn't pay for the meal. You may just say, " Thank you. That would be very nice." American custom about who pays for dates is much the same as in other parts of the world. In the old days, American women wanted men to pay for all the meals. But, today, a university girl or a woman in business world will usually pay for her own. The passage tells us _ . A how to eat out B where to eat out C what to eat out D who pays for the meal Answer: D. who pays for the meal Once there was a forest where all the animals lived happily together. One day a family went to spend the day in the forest, and the son left his socks there. After the family left, a bear came by, found the socks, and decided to try them on. They fit so well, and he liked them so much that he wouldn't take them off. All the animals talked about the bear's new look. Soon, in that forest, there began appearing squirrels in shirts, rabbits in shoes, and even rats wearing hats! The forest doctor shook his head, telling animals, "This can't be good. Animals don't need clothes!" But no one listened to him. They said he was just out of fashion. However, _ Several times the squirrel caught his shirt on trees, stopping him in mid-jump and sending him falling to the ground from a tree. The rat couldn't go into his hole without taking off his hat first. Even the bear, because of his socks, slipped from the river rock and almost killed himself. When the animals came to see the doctor, he gave them all the same advice, "Take off those clothes before one day they're going to kill you." Those who listened to the doctor's advice stopped having accidents. And the animals realized that they didn't need clothes at all. Starting to wear them had been very dangerous, and they had only done it to make others admire them, and to get attention. From the story we can know that _ . A the family had a good time with the bear B the animals didn't like the bear's new look C the forest doctor told the animals not to wear clothes D the squirrel couldn't go into his hole with his hat on Answer: C. the forest doctor told the animals not to wear clothes Like most people, I've long understood that I will be judged by .www.ks5u.commy occupation, that my profession is a standard people use to see how smart or talented I am. Recently, however, I was disappointed to see that it also decides how I'm treated as a person. Last year I left a professional position as a small-town reporter and took a job waiting tables. As someone paid to serve food to people, I had customers say and do things to me I suspect they'd never say or do to their most casual acquaintances . One night a man talking on his cell phone waved me away, then asked me back with his finger minutes later, complaining he was ready to order and asking where I'd been. I had waited tables during summers in college and was treated like a peon by plenty of people. But at 19 years old, I believed I deserved inferior treatment from professional adults. Besides, people responded to me differently after I told them I was in college. Customers would joke that one day I'd be sitting at their table, waiting to be served. Once I graduated, I took a job at a community newspaper. From my first day, I heard a respectful tone from everyone who called me. I assumed this was the way the professional world worked . I soon found out differently. I sat several feet away from an advertising sales representative with a similar name. Our calls would often get mixed up and someone asking for Kristen would be transferred to Christie. The mistake was immediately evident. Perhaps it was because money was involved, but people used a tone with Kristen that they never used with me. .www.ks5u.com My job title made people treat me politely. So it was a shock to return to the restaurant industry. It's no secret that there's a lot to put up with when waiting tables, and fortunately, much of it can be easily forgotten when you pocket the tips. The service industry, by definition, exists to satisfy others' needs. Still, it seemed that many of my customers didn't get the difference between server and servant. I'm now applying to graduate school, which means someday I'll return to a profession where people need to be nice to me in order to get what they want. I think I'll take them to dinner first, and see how they treat someone whose only job is to serve them. How did the author feel when waiting tables at the age of 19? A She felt it unfair to be treated as a mere servant by professional. B She felt badly hurt when her customers regarded her as a peon. C She was embarrassed each time her customers joked with her. D She found it natural for professionals to treat her as inferior. Answer: D. She found it natural for professionals to treat her as inferior.
It's interesting that the arrival of snow has a different effect on people in different countries. For some countries it is an important happening to celebrate each year, while for others it is a catastrophe or even a wonder. There are countries between these two extremes that normally expect snow some time over the winter months, but never receive snow regularly or in the same quantities every year. Britain is one such country, for which the arrival of snow quite simply creates problems. Within hours of the first snowfall, however light, roads are blocked, trains and buses stop in the middle of traffic. Normal communications are affected as well, telephone calls become difficult and the post immediately takes more time than usual. Almost within hours, there are also shortages -- bread, vegetables and other things -- not because all these things can no longer be produced or sent to shops, but mainly because people are frightened, and go out to store up these commodities , "just for fear that something bad should happen." Why then does snow have this effect? After all, the Swiss, Austrians and Canadians don't have such problems. It is simply because there is not enough planning and preparation. We need money to buy equipment to deal with snow and ice. To keep the roads clear, for example, requires snow ploughs and machines to spread salt. The reason why a country like Britain does not buy some ploughs is that they are only used for a few days in any one year, and the money could be more useful in other things such as hospitals, education or helping the old. The first reason that the British don't buy snow ploughs is that _ Answer: snow ploughs are not used often "If you want to see a thing well, reach out and touch it!" That may seem a strange thing to say. But touching things can help you to see them better. Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round. But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is. You can feel how heavy the glass is. When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it. With your skin, you can feel better. For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket. You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too. You can even feel sounds against your skin. Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music? They must like to feel the sounds of music. All children soon learn what "Don't touch!" means. They hear it often. Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up. In shops, we touch things we might buy, such as food, clothes and so on. To see something well, we have to touch it. The bottoms of our feet can feel things, too. You know this when you walk on warm sand, cool grass or a bad floor. All feel different under your feet. There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin. Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin. At first, it is not easy to feel these things. You are too used to them! Most museums are just for looking. But today some museums have some things to touch. Their signs say, "Do touch!" There you can feel everything on show. If you want to see better, reach out and touch. Then you'll really see! Which of the following can be the best title of the story? Answer: To See Better by Feeling Every parent wants their child to grow up to enjoy life and be successful. Each and every one of us has something that we don't want our children to experience as they get older. We protect them hoping they will never experience hurt, yet as they get older they come across their own struggles. We often do everything we can to keep them from making the mistakes that we have made. Your children are not you. They are incredible little beings that choose you to experience life with. They are not little "mini me's" that will make the same mistakes we have made or learn the way we learn from our own experiences. They go to school, have experiences that they only tell us about, and understand the experiences through their own thoughts and feelings mixed in with family behavioral patterns. This is where you can make a difference. Be an example. Teach your child how to live life by being the person you would want them to be--helping others, loving yourself and making no judgments about other people. As you learn this in your own self and apply it, your child won't need you to speak a word. If little Joannie doesn't want to share with another child, show them how to share. Show by example. If you don't want other to _ , treat others as you want to be treated because there is a child learning behaviors from you. Be the example of what you want your child to be through your own positive thoughts and feelings. It is the best thing you can do for your child and yourself to ensure your child feel accepted and loved as they get older. In the passage, the author expresses_. Answer: his concern for the role parents play in families What happens when animals in hot environments are active? Answer: They become thirsty more easily 1.Your NAME, YEAR of birth, HOME ADDRESS/CITY/STATE/PHONE NUMBER, SCHOOL NAME (and English teacher) and EMAIL ADDRESS, so we can email you if you've published. 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Shanghai Disney Resort will officially open and welcome its first guests on June 16, The Walt Disney Company and Shanghai Shendi Group announced early morning today. "The resort will host a multi-day grand opening celebration, culminating in a spectacular welcoming ceremony for the resort's first official guests." The management of the resort said. At the opening, it will include the Shanghai Disneyland, a theme park with six themed lands, two themed hotels, Disneytown, a huge shopping, dining and entertainment district and Wishing Star Park. It will also celebrate China's rich heritage and cultural elements. "Both shareholders and the board of directors agree this is the optimal time to welcome our first official guests to the resort," said Philippe Gas, general manager of the resort. Major construction of the resort is now complete and will be followed by extensive preparations to ensure the resort is fully operational and ready to greet millions of guests. The resort will continue to hire and train a new cast to join the current team of nearly 2,000 cast members and imaginers, according to the resort. The theme park's ticketing plan as well as other operational details of the resort will be announced at a later date. Shanghai Disneyland, the resort's theme park, will have six themed lands: Adventure Isle, Gardens of Imagination, Mickey Avenue, Tomorrow land, Treasure Cove and Fantasyland, with the Enchanted Storybook Castle, the largest castle in a Disney park. Shanghai Disney Resort broke ground in 2011. The iconic castle topped off in May 2015. What can be inferred from the passage? A Shanghai Disney Resort will have some unique Chinese features. B The optimal time for the opening of the resort has not been decided. C The resort will employ 2,000 cast members and imaginers at most. D Millions of guests will visit Shanghai Disney Resort on the opening day. Answer: A. Shanghai Disney Resort will have some unique Chinese features. Most teens I meet these days lack basic social courtesy when dealing with people. My own son, who basically grew up with his grandmother, the original manners expert, has perfect table manners. This is partly because he was exposed to manners at a very young age. However, when we eat at home, he would not practice manners. So I asked him why. He said, "I behave the way I am supposed to behave when I'm out, but when I am at home I want to be comfortable." That's when I realized that most parents, myself included, do teach their children the proper way to behave outside the home, but they are also brought up to believe that at home, anything goes. My answer to him was "good behavior has nothing to do with where you are or whom you are with". Then he answered, "But I behave properly when I'm with others so that they think better of me ." And that is when I realized that I was doing things all wrong. I explained to him that it had nothing to do with what people think. This confused him even more. So I went on to explain that behavior, whether in your everyday interaction with people or at the dining table at home, is an expression of who you are. Well, at the age of 13, he got it. So basically, what I am saying is that teaching your children manners comes with the underlying lesson that it is not about what to do or not to do, but rather , who they are. This way it is not mechanical : it comes from within. Teach your teens or children the basic courtesy of greeting their friends' parents and introducing themselves when they go to someone's home. Teach teenage boys to open the door of a car, or any door for that matter, for any girl, whether they are their girlfriends or not. This includes holding elevator doors or letting women step out of the elevator first. Just remember that teenage boys who practice good manners and courtesy grow up to become men who respect people in general. What do most parents do with their children' manners? A Most parents often stress their children' good manners outside the home. B Most parents pay more attention to their children' manners at home. C Most parents pay no attention to their children's good manners. D Most parents are too busy to be concerned about their children's manners. Answer: A. Most parents often stress their children' good manners outside the home. Corn can be used to make ethanol, which is a fuel for some cars. What problem could be caused by the increased use of ethanol? A increase in fossil fuel production B decrease in corn production C increase in severe weather D decrease in nutrients in soil Answer: D. decrease in nutrients in soil Internet use appears to cause a drop in psychological health, according to a 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 used Internet less frequently, the two-year 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 appeared to cause the bad feeling. Researchers are puzzled by the results, which were completely the opposite to their experiences. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose the information and to communicate with others. The fact that Internet use reduces time available for family and friends may explain the drop-in well-being, researchers supposed. Faceless, bodiless "virtual" communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversation, and the relationships formed through it may be shallower. Another possibility is that knowing the wider world via 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," says psychologist Christine Riley of Intel, one of the study founders. "It really points to the need for considering social factors in terms of how you design applications and services for technology." Which of the following may be the cause of depression? A Net users found their living conditions bad. B Net users already had mental problems. C Deep relationships were formed through Internet. D Net users had less time to communicate with other people. Answer: D. Net users had less time to communicate with other people. Which characteristic is inherited rather than learned? A telling a story B saluting the flag C having blue eyes D riding a bicycle Answer: C. having blue eyes
Jim is a basketball fan. He is very good at playing basketball. Jack is his favorite basketball player. Jim is in the school basketball team. Every Friday afternoon, he plays basketball with other members after class. In the team, Jim's best friend is Mike. He is also good at playing basketball. Jim's sister Mary loves swimming. Every Saturday she has a swimming lesson with ten other girls and boys. Their mothers and fathers come to watch them because the children are only one or two years old! When Mary began to have swimming classes, she was only six months old. Now she is two years old and she can swim well. Many people are afraid of water, but the children in Mary's class aren't! They always have a good time in water. There are _ children in the swimming class. Answer: A supermarket checkout operator was praised for striking a blow for modern manners and a return to the age of politeness after refusing to serve a shopper who was talking on her mobile phone. The supermarket manager was forced to apologize to the customer who complained she was told her goods would not be scanned unless she hung up her phone. Jo Clark, 46, said, "I don't know what she was playing at. I couldn't believe how rude she was. When did she have the right to give me a lecture on checkout manners? I won't be shopping there again!" But users of social media sites and Internet forums were very angry that store gave in and the public appeared to be supporting the angry checkout worker. "Perhaps this is a turning point for mobile phone users everywhere. When chatting, keep your eyes on people around you. That includes people trying to serve you, other road users and especially people behind you in the stairs," said a typical post. "It's time checkout staff fought back against these people constantly chatting on their phones. They can drive anyone crazy. It's rude and annoying. I often want to grab someone's phone and throw it as far as I can, even though I am not a checkout girl, just a passer-by," said another. Siobhan Freegard, founder of parenting site www. Netmums.com said, "While this checkout operator doesn't have the authority to order customers to switch off their phones, you can see clearly how frustrated and angry she felt. No matter how busy you are, life is nicer when you and those around you have good manners." According to Jo Clark, the checkout operator _ . Answer: I live with my grandmother in a Beijing yard house. One day last year, I was surprised to see a big foreigner coming out of the house next door to ours. He was very tall with short brown hair and a pair of glasses. The first time I saw him, I was too shy to speak to him. "My English is too poor!" I thought. My grandmother told me that he had just moved into our yard. "I don't like it!" she said. "Foreigners aren't like us. Maybe he'll play loud music and parties every night! I'm sure he's going to cause trouble." Several days later, I met the foreigner as I was walking home after work. "Hello!" he said (in Chinese!). "My name's Tony. I've just moved into the house next door to yours." While I was wondering what to say, he continued, "There's a nice bar down the road. Why don't you and your family come and have dinner with me?" "Bars are bad places," said my grandmother when I told her, but we decided to go. The bar was not at all what I had expected. It was in a beautiful little yard house, with several large bookshelves and pictures of Tibet on the walls. Several Chinese people and foreigners were sitting drinking or reading books. I noticed that some of the foreigners were speaking Chinese in a low voice to each other! "Oh, what a civilized place!" my grandmother exclaimed. The bar served special "hutong pizzas". As we ate, Tony told us about himself-he is an English expert in environment. He always likes to be quiet. My grandmother said to me, "He really seems like a very nice young man." The best title for this story is _ . Answer: Mary is an American girl. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Smith find work in China. So Mary is living in China now with her parents. Mr. Smith works in a big shop. Mrs. Smith teaches English in a middle school. Mary goes to school from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays she goes to the library with her mother. She likes reading magazines there very much. Then she eats dinner at a restaurant with her parents. On Sundays, Mary often helps her mother do the housework. That makes her mother very happy. But last week Mary had a busy Sunday. On Sunday morning, she stayed at home and studied for an exam. On Sunday afternoon she went to the park and played tennis with her friend, Lee. What does Mary's mother do? Answer: Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that occurs when the body attacks its own tissues. Which body system becomes disordered first? Answer:
Chen Zhengshan has a special classmate, his 63-year-old grandma. His grandma began to look after him 10 years ago. Chen got a bad illness when he was three. His mother left the family. His father couldn't work. So his grandparents began to look after him. Chen had to take five kinds of medicine every day and it cost the family more than 1,200 yuan every month. Chen couldn't speak well. Some boys often laughed at him at school. He was very sad. In 2008, his grandma decided to go to school with him. She asked the school to let her do so, but the teachers didn't agree. In 2009, she made it,because the teachers were moved by her love. The teachers also asked students to help the boy and collected more than 600 yuan for him. The grandma planned to go to school with her grandson until he got well. She said,"My boy who likes playing the piano is as clever as the other children." ,. When did Chen's grandma begin to go to school with him? Answer: A new study supports the view that jobs aren't simply a love-at-first-sight deal. Rather, they say that achieving passion for your work is something you can develop over time. Unlike the main way of thinking that you'Il only achieve passion for your work through finding the right fit with a line of work - what the researchers call "fit theory" , the researchers say you can learn to love your job and find meaning in it gradually("developing theory"). We probably hear and think a l.t more about "fit theory" than "developing theory" because we've become used to it. "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work," said Steve Jobs. "And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'II know when you find it. " Chen and colleagues examined some students' career attitudes and expectations with regard to "fit theory"and "developing theory". "People can achieve similar levels of passion at work by accepting either the fit or develo-ping theory. The key difference lies in how these results are reached : fit theorists tend to self-select into lines of work that fit them from the start, while developing theorists grow into that fit over time. " Fit theorists tend to value enjoyment at the expense of good pay, while developing theorists are willing to let enjoyment take a back seat to other goals, safe in the knowledge that they'll grow into the role and find enjoyment over time. Everyone has moments of being bored with their work,but it's important to keep your thoughts focused on the bigger picture, your Iong-term goals , and whv you took the role in the first place. What might be the best title for the passage? Answer: Bruno was a boy of eight. His father worked in a cinema and his mother worked in a shop. He lived not far from his school. He always walked there and walked home. On his way to school he had to pass a playground. It was very wet after it rained. One day, when he got home, his clothes were all wet. His mother became angry and said, "Don't play in the water on your way home from school!" On the next day Bruno came home with wet and dirty clothes. His mother became even angrier. "I 'll tell your father if you come back wet again." said his mother. "He will punish you, you know." The third day the little boy was dry when he came home. "You 're a good boy today." His mother said happily. "You didn't play in the water." "No, "the boy said unhappily. "There were too many older boys in the water when i got there this afternoon. There wasn't any room for me at all." The playground was between _ . Answer: Why is a healthy diet important? Answer: If you dream of going to someplace warm to escape the cold winter weather, a trip to a recently discovered planet would certainly warm you right up. The planet, named OCLE-TR-56b, has temperatures of more than 3,000 degF. "This is the hottest planet we know about," says Dr. Dimitar Sasselov, a scientist who led the discovery team, "It is hot enough to have an iron fog and to rain hot iron droplets " The new planet is 30 times farther away than any planet discovered by scientists before. It is in the Milky Way but it is not in our solar system The new planet moves around a star much like our sun, however. Scientists discovered the planet by using a new planet-searching method, called"transit technique" They were able to catch sight of the planet when it moved in front of its star, causing the star's light to dim .Scientists compare the method to discovering the shadow of a bee flying in front of a searchlight 200 miles away. "We believe the door has been opened wide to go and discover planets like Earth," says Sasedlov. Which is the best title for the passage? Answer:
Nora is an American girl. She studies in a middle school. She has a little sister. Her name is Kate. Kate is only four. Nora likes Kate very much. Today is Sunday. Nora wants her pen. She takes out her pencil case. "Oh, dear! Where's my pen?" She can't find her pen. She goes to ask her sister in her bedroom. "Kate! I can't find my pen. Can you see......Oh, what are you doing with my pen?" "I'm writing to my friend, Betty." Kate answers. "But how can you? You don't know what to write."."It doesn't matter . Betty can't read." Kate says. Betty and Kate are _ . A. sisters B. Americans C. at home D. friends Answer: D Tattoos and body piercings have moved up on the trend list in recent years. Around Western schools lots of teens are sporting new holes and "flesh ink" . As with all other subjects, the Chinese will surely have to deal with this situation with respect to their children. To get a better view of what has happened in the West, let's sit down and hear what they say. Tiara from prefix = st1 /Indiana: I personally think body piercing is sickening. If there were supposed to be holes in your body, you would have been born with them. I do, however, think that ear piercing, is not wrong. There is a difference between ear piercing and belly button piercing. Ear piercing is not nearly as dangerous. I would be sick if someone stuck a needle in my belly button. Lee fromIllinois: Hi! I live inIllinois. I am 23. I have 12 tattoos and three piercings. I love my tattoos and consider myself an art collector. You would be surprised at who has given me the thumbs-up on my art work. People on the street stop me to look at the tattoo on my leg. Most of them don't know what it is. They just think the work itself is great. Subotai fromCalifornia: I'm not against self-expression, but when I see high school students getting these piercing, I really wonder. In some cases, the drive is deeper and darker than mere fashion. A friend of mine tried piercing her own tongue with a safety pin. It got infected and she had a tongue the size of a cow's. Jackson fromOhio: I don't think it's wrong, but when people do it all over the place like their face and everything --I think that's ridiculous. People who get the big dragons that cover your whole body--I don't think that's necessary. When I see naked chicks on guys, I think. "You have no respect for women." Brittney from New York: We can infer from the passage that_. A. Tiara might have body piercing B. Subotai doesn't have body piercing C. Lee thinks tattoos are art D. Jackson likes tattoos and piercing Answer: B If you get into the forest with your friends, stay with them always. If you don't, you may get lost. If you really get lost, this is what you should do. Sit down and stay where you are. Don't try to find your friends--let them find you by staying in one place. There is another way to help your friends or other nearby people to find you. Give them a signal by shouting or whistling three times. Any signal given three times is a call for help. Keep up shouting or whistling always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They give you two shouts, two whistles, or two gunshots . When someone gives you a signal, it is an answer to a call for help. If you don't think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house--cover up the holes with branches with lots of leaves. Make yourself a soft bed with leaves and grass. What should you do if you get hungry or need drinking water? You would have to leave your little house to look for a river. Don't just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk so that you can find your way back. The most important thing to do when you are lost is to stay in one place. This passage mainly tells you _ . A. when you hear a signal always three times, it is a call for help B. what you should do if you get lost in a forest C. any signal given twice means an answer to a call for help D. how you can live longer in a forest Answer: B It was the last day of the final examination in a university. A group of students entered the classroom happily. This was their last exam. They knew it would be easy. The professor had said that they could bring any book or note they wanted. The only requirement was that they couldn't talk with each other. The professor handed out the papers. They were glad to find there were only five questions. Three hours passed. The professor asked, "How many of you have finished all the five questions?" None of the students answered. "How many of 3'ou have finished four?" No answers again. "Thee? Two?" The students moved restlessly in their seats. "One, then? Certainly somebody has finished one." But the class remained silent. "That is exactly what I expected," the professor said. "I just want to teach you a lesson--although you have completed four years of study, there are still many things you don't know about." Then be added, "You will all pass the exam, But remember: even though you are graduating from college, your education has just begun." How many students passed the exam at last? A. None of them. B. Only one. C. Half of them. D. All of them. Answer: D A Mountain of Green Beans Another envelope in the mail. There's my name, Alexander Spencer, typed on the front. I throw it under the bed. The piles of envelopes are growing. The envelopes were applications to all the colleges I was supposed to attend. I did open the first envelope. Then I saw the application, all those blank spaces I was supposed to fill with my own writing, spaces for my name and birth date and grade average and ... statement of purpose. I looked at them for a long time. I could write for hours and not fill all those spaces. So I put the application back in the envelope. I would fill it out the next day, when I had time. But another envelope arrived. And then the pile began. The pile scares me -- it is really like a monster. All the while, I feel the weight of a million envelopes raining down on my head until my grandmother calls me and wants to know how I am. "I am overcome by too many tasks," I say. "Honey, you just take it bit by bit," she says, and she reminds me about the green beans. When I was a little kid I hated green beans. But my mom said I couldn't leave the table until I ate ten green beans. All alone at the table, I stared at the green beans for what seemed like hours. It was a mountain of green beans. I couldn't do it. My grandma came to me and asked if I could eat one green bean. "But Grandma, I have to eat ten!" She said all I had to do was to eat one green bean. One tiny little green bean. So I ate one. It was bad, but not as bad as I'd thought it would be. Then she asked me again if I could eat one. So I ate one green bean nine more times. My grandma doesn't know about the envelopes, but she tells me anyone can do one thing every day. Back in my room, I lay down on the bed. Just like I used to do when I was a little kid, I hang my head down to look at the pile of envelopes. There it is. But instead of a monster, I see a pile of green beans. Who's afraid of green beans? Envelopes are piling up because the author _ . A. doesn't know how to reply B. feels bored of the paper work C. doesn't want to attend college D. has been too busy to open them Answer: B
Question: Classes resumed Thursday for the students of a school in Newtown, Conn, where a gunman last month killed 20 children and 6 adults in the second-largest school shooting in U.S. history. With their school still being treated as a crime scene, more than 400 students of Sandy Hook Primary School attended classes in neighbouring Monroe. Returning students, teachers and administrators were met by a large police presence outside their new school. Several officers guarded the entrance and checked IDs of parents dropping off children. Law-enforcement officers guarding the new school called it "the safest school in America." Students found the same chairs and desks, when possible. Their classroom walls were painted the same colours and hung with the same pictures. Other details, such as the location of bookshelves and cubby holes, were replicated as much as possible. The school district said parents who wanted to be close to their children were welcome to visit and stay in classrooms or an auditorium. Newtown superintendent Janet Robinson said officials would do their best to make the students feel at ease. "We will be doing a normal day." She said. ... to make the students feel at ease. The phrase "feel at ease" most likely means _ . A. feel at home B. feel fresh and curious C. feel happy and lucky D. feel safe and relaxed Answer: D Question: Letter One Dear Editor, After I finish my homework, I often go online and chat with my friends. Sometimes I play Internet games. But my parents hate to see me playing games on the computer. Maybe they have heard too much news about how QQ and Internet games harm children. Once I went to a net bar to play games after school. But after that I told my parents that I was playing basketball at school. I said so because I didn't want to make them unhappy. I feel bad about it. However, I need to rest for a while by playing computer games after studying for a long time. I really want my parents to understand that. Do foreign parents do the same to their children? Please help me. Li Ping, Nantong Letter Two Dear Li Ping, I think it's not strange for parents to keep their children away from anything bad. Foreign parents will do the same as your parents! They may not let their children watch TV for too long a time, or like your parents, they don't want their children to play computer games. Talk to your parents and be honest to them, I think. Tell them what you are doing and why you are doing so to make them understand you. _ They aren't fools as you think sometimes! Our parents seem to know what is the best for us. Remember: to be honest is the best way. Good luck, Rebecca The editor thinks _ . A. children should play computer games secretly B. playing computer games can be very helpful to children's studies C. children should be honest and try to make their parents understand them D. foreign parents don't care for their children as much as Chinese parents Answer: C Question: It was Saturday, and every Saturday all the children on the block would have a bicycle race. Juan rode his new red bicycle to the dead end street where the race was held. He knew he would win. His new bicycle would be faster than anyone's. Anita was there on her white bicycle. Todd was riding a blue bicycle, and Jasper soon arrived on a yellow bicycle. The race began, and Juan was in the lead. He heard Anita crying behind him. He turned to see her chain was broken, and she had fallen from her bike into the green grass. Juan stopped and turned around to help Anita. Jasper and Todd rode past them, and it was soon clear that Todd would win the race. Juan walked Anita home, and she thanked him for being a good friend. Who helped Anita when she fell? A. Todd B. Juan C. Anita's mother. D. Jasper Answer: B Question: Putting in water fountains at schools, and teaching children about the health benefits of water, could reduce their risk of getting extra pounds, reports a new study that is published in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics. The findings are based on a survey in 32 elementary schools of two German cities, Dortmund and Essen. The researchers, led by Rebecca Muckelbauer, a nutritionist at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition Dortmund, weighed about 3,000 children, and asked them about their beverage consumption . At the beginning of the school year, the experts had water fountains added to 17 of the schools. The scientists also worked with teachers to carry out educational programs that promote the benefits of drinking water. In contrast to schools in the United States, there are very few schools in Germany that have water fountains. At the beginning of the study, there were no big differences in the number of overweight children in the different groups. But by the end of the school year, children in the schools with water fountains were 31 per cent less likely to gain extra pounds, compared to kids who went to other schools, where water drinking was not encouraged. Children in the schools with fountains increased their water consumption from about 3 up to 4 glasses a day, while those in the other schools continued to drink an average of 3 glasses. Over the research, the number of overweight kids upped from 384 to 385 out of 1,641 at the schools with water fountains. In comparison, the number of overweight kids at the other schools increased from 339 to 364 out of 1,309, Dr. Muckelbauer said. The experts cannot make any final conclusions and explain why the students who were encouraged to drink water were less likely to gain extra weight. Dr. Muckelbauer noted that according to a few other studies, drinking of water increases the rate at which calories are burned, while some other research suggested that water may temporarily decrease appetite . What would be the best title for the passage? A. Schools with water fountains B. Drink more water and become thinner C. Water fountains at schools help kids stay thin D. Water consumption at some German schools Answer: C Question: However you decide to travel in Britain, a great starting point is Traveline-a very useful site that will help you plan your journey and get loads of information for national, regional and local travel. By Air Though Britain is a small country, flying can be a competitive choice, especially if you book ahead and travel early in the morning or late in the evening, you can get some great deals which can be cheaper than going by train. Airlines with good regional coverage are listed below... By Train Trains can be a rewarding , relaxing and, if you book in advance, good value way to travel round Britain. Lots of different companies run services in Britain. So start by contacting National Rail (Tel: 08705484950; outside UK + 44 1332 387601). It's a helpful, centralized service that provides timetable and fare information. To buy tickets, you have to contact individual train operating companies or use a website such as Traveline. Some of the major companies are listed below ... By Coach It is the cheapest way to travel long distances, and you can see a lot more of the country while you're traveling than by train. National Express-Largest national coach network with excellent value BritXplorer passes that you can use on the whole network for 7, 14 and 28 days. Tel: 08705808080 UK only. Meag Bus-Mega value, no-frills intercity travel. City Link-Scotland's leading coach company. Tel: 08705 505050 UK only. Traveling-Provide information about bus travel all over the country. Tel: 08706 082608 UK only. By Car Rental rates can be fairly high in the UK, but if there are several of you, hiring a car can be a good value way to travel. Try and book in advance for better deals. If you are planning on traveling extensively in Britain it might be worth buying a car to travel round and then selling it afterwards. Major rental companies include ... By Ferry The main ferries in Britain serve the islands west and north of Scotland. Caledonian Mac (Tel: 08705650000) is the main operator off the west coast. North-link Ferries (Tel: 08456 000449) is the main operator to Orkney and the only sea-going choice to the Shetlands. Check out the Ferry Information for more information. Which of the following is the cheapest means of transportation to travel long distances? A. By Coach. B. By Air. C. By Car. D. By Ferry. Answer: A
You may feel interested in students in other countries. Do they have so much homework? What do they do in their free time? People did a survey in China, Japan, South Korea and the US last year. This is the result. Who studies the hardest? Chinese students spend the most time in studying. About half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day. Who sleeps most often in class? Japanese students fall asleep in class more often. About 45% of them sometimes _ in class. It's 32% in South Korea, 21% in the US and 5% in China. Who is the most distracted ? American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted. 64.2% of them chat with friends in class. 46.9% of them eat something in class, and 38.9 % of them send e-mails or read other books in class. What do they do after school? In their free time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do exercise. Most South Korean students watch TV. Most American students _ in class. A chat with friends B play games C eat something D send e-mails Answer: A Audrey Hepburn is one of Hollywood's all-time greatest actress. She is famous not only in the USA, but also in other parts of the world. Hepburn was born in Belgium on May 4, 1929. She began taking ballet lessons at a very young age. She loved dancing and her dream was to become a successful ballet dancer. She had put most of her effort into ballet training before she entered the film industry. In 1951, Hepburn was chosen to play the lead role of a young princess in the Hollywood film Roman Holiday. It was a big success and Hepburn became famous immediately. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in this film. During her life time, Hepburn earned four more Oscar nominations . Some well-known films that she acted in include Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany and My Fair Lady. Hepburn also devoted much of her time to charity . She spent the last few years of her life working closely with UNICEF to help poor children in different parts of the world. She was honoured with a number of awards because of her efforts in helping them. _ made Hepburn a big success. A Roman Holidays B Funny Face C Breakfast at Tiffany's D My Fair Lady Answer: A How fit are your teeth? Are you lazy about brushing them? Never fear: An inventor is on the case. An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush, and it lets you track your performance on your phone. The Kolibree toothbrush was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It senses how it is moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection. The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right (don't forget the insides of the teeth!) and make sure you're brushing long enough. "It's kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis," says Thomas Serval, the French inventor. The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone, so developers could, for example, create a game controlled by your toothbrush. You could score points for beating monsters among your teeth. "We try to make it smart and fun," Serval says. Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They said "yes," but Serval would find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided he needed a brush that really told him how well his children brushed. The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, from $99 to $199, and the U.S. is the first target market. ( ) What can we infer about Serval's children? A They were unwilling to brush their teeth B They often failed to clean their toothbrushes. C They preferred to use a toothbrush with a dry head. D They liked brushing their teeth after Serval came home. Answer: A Like any good mother,when Karen found out that another baby was on the way,she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son,Michael,prepare for a new baby.They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl,and day after day,night after night,Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's stomach. Finally,Michael's little sister is born.But she is in serious condition.With alarm in the night,the ambulance rushes _ to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital,Knoxville,Tennessee.The days go by.The little girl gets worse.The pediatric specialist tells the parents,"There is very little hope.Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot.They have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby,but now they plan a funeral.Michael,keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister,"I want to sing to her,"he says. Karen makes up her mind.She will take Michael whether they like it or not.If he doesn't see his sister now,he may never see her alive. She dresses him in an oversized suit and marches him into ICU.He looks like a walking laundry basket,but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and shouts,"Get that kid out of here now! No children are allowed.Never disturb patients here."The mother rises up strongly and said,"He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen leads Michael to his sister's bedside.He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live.And he begins to sing.In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old,Michael sings:"You are my sunshine,my only sunshine,you make me happy when skies are gray..."Instantly the baby girl responds.The pulse rate becomes calm and steady. The next day,the very next day,the little girl is well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it"the miracle of a brother's song."The medical staff just called it a miracle.Karen called it a miracle of God's love! Never give up on the people you love. What is the general idea of the text? A A boy's singing saved his sister's life. B The little girl is well enough to go home. C Michael's little sister is born with a serious disease. D No children are allowed to enter the intensive care unit. Answer: A First aid is emergency care for a victim of sudden illness or injury until more skillful medical treatment is available. It may save a life or improve certain vital signs including pulse, temperature, a clear airway, and breathing. In minor emergencies, first aid may prevent a victim's condition from turning worse and provide relief from pain. First aid must be done as quickly as possible. In the case of the seriously injured, a few minutes can make the difference between complete recovery and loss of life. First-aid measures depend upon a victim's needs and the provider's level of knowledge and skill. Knowing what not to do in an emergency is as important as knowing what to do. Improperly moving a person with a neck injury, for example, can lead to permanent spinal injury and paralysis . Despite the variety of injuries possible, several principles of first aid apply to all emergencies. The first step is to call for professional medical help. The victim, if conscious, should be reassured that medical aid has been requested, and asked for permission to provide any first aid. Next, assess the scene, asking other people or the injured person's family or friends about details of the injury or illness, any care that may have already been given, and pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or heart trouble. The victim should be checked for a medical card that describes special medical conditions. Unless the accident scene becomes unsafe or the victim may suffer further injury, do not move the victim. First aid requires rapid assessment of victims to determine whether life-threatening conditions exist. One method for evaluating a victim's condition is known by the acronym ABC, which stands for: A---Airway: is it open and clear? B---Breathing: is the person breathing? Look, listen, and feel for breathing. C---Circulation: is there a pulse? Is the person bleeding extremely? Check skin color and temperature for additional indications of circulation problems. The purpose of the passage is to tell the reader _ . A the importance of protecting the accident scene B some basic facts about first aid C what professional medical help is D who can offer first aid Answer: B
Nat lived in a small town in England. He always stayed in England for his vacation, but last year he thought, "I'm never outside this country. All my friends go to Spain , and they like it very much. So this year I'm going there, too." First he went to Madrid and stayed in a small hotel for a few days. On the first morning he went out for a walk. In England people drive on the left, but in Spain they drive on the right. Nat forgot about this and when he was crossing a busy street, a bike knocked him down. Nat lay on the ground for a few seconds and then he sat up and said, "Where am I ?" An old man was selling maps at the side of the street, and he at once came to Nat and said, "Map of the city, sir ?" Map of the city, sir ? means " _ ". Answer: We know more about the surface of the planet Mars than we know about what is at the bottom of Earth's oceans. Until recently, scientists had mapped only about 20 percent of the sea floor. But our knowledge of the deep seas is changing because of information from satellites. Scientists have produced a new map that provides a detailed picture of the oceans. The map is expected to help oceanographers, industry and governments. The new map is twice as detailed as the map made 20 years ago. David Sandwell is a geophysics professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California. He and other scientists worked on the mapping project. He says they turned to space to look deeper into the ocean. He spoke to VOA on SKYPE. "The way we're doing that is to use a satellite altimeter , a radar to map the topography of the ocean surface. Now that seems sort of strange that you'd map the topography of the ocean surface when you really want to get at the sea floor. But, the ocean surface topography has these bumps and dips due to gravitational effects that mimic what's on the sea floor." The scientists collected and studied information from two satellites. Some of the data came from the European Space Agency's Cryo-2 satellite. It was placed in Earth's orbit to watch sea ice. The other satellite is the American space agency's Jason-1. It is studying the surface of the oceans. Scientists combined the satellite data with images gathered by sonar equipment on ships. Sonar works by sending sound waves through the water. When the sound waves hit an object, its presence is confirmed. "That enables us to look at smaller-scale features and also features that are buried by sediments in the ocean basins." The new map shows the sea floor as it has never been seen before. It shows thousands of underwater mountains and places where continents pulled apart. It shows where earthquakes were active many years ago. They all are buried deep underneath the ocean floor. In one place, three mountain ridges join at the same area. Huge tectonic plates can be seen clearly there. The passage is likely to _ . Answer: Do you think Great Britain and the United States are alike? Winston Churchill once joked that the people of Britain and the people of America are separated only by their language. Do you think that is true? The British and the Americans both speak English as the official language. However, each uses some different words.We Americans are similar to the British. After all , our country was once owned by Great Britain , so we have a lot in common. But there are many differences between us. Great Britain has a king or queen, and the leader of the government is the Prime Minister. The United States has no kings or queens. Our leader is the President. Both the British and Americans use pounds and ounces, oints, quarts, and gallons. Both use miles, yards,and feet. Our money is different,though. The British use pounds and pence. Americans use dollars and cents. Driving in a car is very different in England. They drive on the left side of the road. We drive on the right. What we call the hood of the car, the British call the "bonnet". British cars run on "petrol",which we call gasoline. In our everyday lives, we do many of the same things as the British. But we describe them differently. A young mother here might push a baby in a baby carriage. A British mom pushes a "pram". The British watch the "telly", while we watch TV. We like to eat French fries, but the British call them "chips". Millions of Americans drink coffee, but most British prefer tea. So we are different in many ways. But we stay friendly anyway. We can learn from the passage that _ Answer: Long ago, little attention was paid to a person's birthday. Even though everyone knew that people grew older, they had no way of correctly marking time. It wasn't until the early people learned more about how time passed that they made a note of time changes. Then they developed a calendar and began to celebrate special events such as birthdays. When birthdays first started to be celebrated during the early days, common people, especially children, hardly celebrated their birthdays. Today, birthdays are celebrated by the young and the old alike all around the world. Many countries have different customs from ours of celebrating birthdays. At the same time there are a lot of people that celebrate birthdays in quite similar ways as we do. Some of the countries are very similar to the United States, such as Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. Customs within countries can be affected by things like language, religion, geographic location, and economic conditions. No matter what the customs are, however, they are always followed by the majority of the people in each country. For example, not all children in the US have birthday parties, candles or birthday cakes, but most of them do. However, the reasons why we celebrate birthdays and use different symbols are very much the same to everyone. The reason why we have birthday parties goes back to long time ago. At that time people believed that good and bad spirits appeared when a child was born and influenced that child through his / her life. The belief brought about the custom of having birthday parties. They believed that surrounding the birthday person with friends, family and good wishes would frighten the bad spirits away. We can guess that in the early times, _ . Answer: prefix = st1 /Massachusetts today looks nothing like it did when the first English settlers arrived. Back in the 17th century, forest blanketed the land. Today, roads and towns cover much of the area. But the past is not dead and gone. Just an hour's drive from Bostonlies Plimoth Plantation . There you'll experience the 17th century life from the days of the Pilgrims . You can look in the Pilgrims' homes, watch the way they cook, and ask them about their daily lives. You can even help them build houses or work in the fields. When you arrive at Plimoth, you are greeted with "How do you fare?" instead of "How are you?" In this living history plantation, actors portray real people of 17th-century Plymouth. Each actor has taken the identity of someone from that period. All the actors speak the language of Shakespeare. They're happy to talk about the hardships of their lives or just share the gossip of the day. But don't try to discuss modern topics. They won't understand what you are talking about! In fall, you can enjoy a harvest dinner very similar to the first Thanksgiving. You'll dine with your hands like Pilgrims. You'll find no pepper on the table. This expensive spice was used only sparingly in cooking. You'll find no last-course "dessert," either. At the time, people ate sweet dishes right along with the meal. Cranberries were on the menu then and still are today. A short distance from Plimoth, you can visit Cranberry World. At this unique museum, you'll see how cranberries are harvested and can taste different cranberry products. Of course, the first Thanksgiving included not only the Pilgrims, but also their Wampanoag guests. If you want to find out something about the Wampanoag, explore a re-created Wampanoag HomeSite. It is just a short walk from Plimoth. Step into the Native American home and enter a different world. Native Americans dressed in 17th-century Wampanoag outfits describe how their people lived 400 years ago. Outside, you can help make a traditional boat or learn about native plant remedies . Much inMassachusettshas changed since the 17th century. But in Plimoth, the past lives on. The purpose of the rebuilt Wampanoag Homesite is _ . Answer:
Question: Many people often lose their friends and they don't know how to keep a long friendship. So how can you keep a long friendship? The following passage explains very well about this matter. The first thing you need to do is to become a good listener. In this way, you show your friends that you are interested in their lives. You want to know more about them and you want to help them solve their problems. They will cherish the friendship more if they know you care about them. The next thing is that you should respect other people's privacy. People usually don't like others to know about their private life, so you should show respect toward their privacy. Sometimes, they need some suggestions from others, but this does not mean that others can know about their entire life. So respect for privacy is a must for keeping a long friendship. The third important thing is that you need to be able to forgive. You must remember that nobody is perfect in this world. It is important to forgive others not to blame them for the mistakes they have already made. You are not perfect either. Thus you need to apologize to others for the mistakes you may have made. Pay attention to the three things above, and you will be able to have long friendship. According to the passage, what is the first thing that we need to do? A. To know more about our friends B. To share our happiness and sadness C. To be good at listening to our friends D. To help our friends solve their problems Answer: C Question: Zhang Feng, a 23-year-old man from Zhengzhou, China, has developed a special kind of kungfu skill. He called it "Shaolin Sunshine Hand". It allows him to get enough energy with his fists to put out candles up to three meters away. I used to watch those Chinese kungfu films during the 80s and 90s. I used to love seeing kungfu actors make things far away with their fists, but at that time I knew it was not true. However, after I watched the video, I changed my idea. The video went very popular in China recently. It showed that the young man named Zhang Feng put out 15 candles in a line three meters away with air or energy generated by his flying fists. You may say it's not true, and you're not the only one. But the young man actually invited two reporters from The Zhengzhou Evening News newspaper into his home to see his act and then film him doing it. The two reporters tried their best, but were only able to put out one of the 15 candles set 10 cm apart, and even blowing air didn't put out all the candles. Zhang Feng, on the other hand, put them all out just by throwing punches. The two reporters were _ and couldn't explain how he did it. They said that Zhang Feng was a great Shaolin master. Why did Zhang Feng invite two reporters to his home? A. Because he wanted them to interview him. B. Because he wanted to have a big dinner with them. C. Because he wanted them to watch and then film him doing it. D. Because he wanted to watch them put out the candles by throwing punches. Answer: C Question: Mary has a lot of hobbies. She usually gets up early so she can run before work. She doesn't often have time to skate, but she sometimes goes on Saturdays during the winter. Mary often rides a horse near here home. She sometimes goes after work, but she usually goes horseback riding on Sundays. She loves music. She always goes to choir practice on Wednesday evenings and sings in church on Sundays. She doesn't have much money, so she seldom goes to concerts in the city. She seldom watches TV because she likes doing things outside. She usually goes to the gym if it's raining outside. She isn't often alone because she has a lot of friends. She sometimes does something alone, but she usually does her hobbies with one of her friends. She's a happy woman! Mary seldom _ because she likes doing things outside. A. goes to concerts B. goes to the gym C. goes to church D. watches TV Answer: D Question: Mrs. Green's telephone number was three-four-six-three, and the number of the cinema near her house was three-four-six-four. So people often made a mistake and telephoned her when they wanted the cinema. One evening the telephone rang and Mrs. Green answered it. A tired man said, "At what time your last film begin?" "I'm sorry," said Mrs. Green, "but you have the wrong number. This is not the cinema." "Oh. It began twenty minutes ago," said the man, "I am sorry about that. Goodbye." Mrs. Green was very surprised, so she told her husband. He laughed and said, "The man's wife wanted to go to the cinema, but he was feeling tired, so telephoned the cinema. The man's wife heard him, but she didn't hear you. Now they will stay at home this evening and the husband will be happy." People often made a mistake and telephoned her when they wanted _ . A. to sleep B. the shop C. the cinema D. the visit Answer: C Question: In the southern part of America, when somebody has a birthday, often family or friends, or both, will arrange a party. The party could be elaborate and include a meal or may be simple with a birthday cake and drinks. One does not plan, nor give, one's own birthday as is the custom in some cultures. At a party there is usually a decorated cake, often with the words "Happy Birthday" and with the name of the person written on the top of the cake. Sometimes there is also one candle for each year of the person celebrating the birthday before the cake is cut. While blowing out the candles, the person makes a wish for something pleasant. Usually those invited to a birthday party will bring a gift for the person honored. Gifts given by friends do not have to be expensive, but the family of the birthday person will spend whatever they can afford on a gift. Christmas parties also are very popular in the South. Often this is the only time during the year that some people see acquaintances . These parties can be elaborate or simple, ranging from a buffet to a reception called "open house ". If you are invited to one of these, you don't need to take a Christmas gift, as it is not customary to take the hostess a gift every time you are invited to a party or a meal. However, if you wish to take a gift, it should only be something useful and inexpensive and should be given to the hostess at the door as you enter the party. Usually gifts of Christmas food treats are the most appreciated. In southern America, birthday parties are often arranged by _ . A. friends B. oneself C. family D. Both A and C Answer: D
Charlie was spending his summer holidays by the sea. One day he climbed over some rocks. He was looking for some crabs for supper. He took off his shorts and put them on a rock. The afternoon went quickly. Time was flying by. Look! The sea was coming in fast. It was over some of the rocks now. Charlie looked up. "It's getting late. Oh dear! Look at the sea. Where are my shorts now?" he thought. He saw them on a rock. Oh dear! The rock was an island! Now he must swim and got them. Charlie jumped into the sea and started swimming. He reached the rock and put his shorts on his head. Then he started swimming back. Oh no! The sea was too strong for Charlie. It was pulling him away from the beach. "Help!" he called. "I can't get back. " Luckily, a boat was coming by. The people in the boat saw Charlie and heard his call for help. "Are you all right?" asked the woman in the boat. "No! I can't swim back. The sea is too strong. " The woman stopped the boat and she and a girl pulled Charlie into the boat. He threw his shorts into the boat too. Then they turned the boat Bound and took Charlie back to the beach. "That was lucky," said the woman. "Thank you very much," said Charlie. "Be careful next time," said the woman. "The sea is usually very strong near these rocks. " "Next time, I'm going to keep my shorts in my bag," said Charlie. "Better safe than sorry!" Who saved Charlie? _ . A woman and a girl What's the coolest job ever? It may be one that allows you to express your personality while doing something you love and getting paid for it. Here are some really cool jobs. Cowboy If you dream of living the rural life as a cowboy, consider a position as a rancher or a farm manager. You can expect to earn between US$25,000 and US$35,000 a year, says Brady Lynch, an agricultural research consultant. "A lot of benefits will include other things like housing, a vehicle and even beef or chicken," he adds. Professional Golfer You need nerves of steel to face pressure and difficulty and a love of travel to survive as a professional golfer. Average yearly winnings in the Ladies Professional Golf Association were US$230,117 in 2013. With 161 ladies on the list, top-ranked Na Yeon Choi earned more than US$1.8 million, while 161st-ranked Jackie Gallagher-Smith earned just US$1,786. If you want to stay in one place, work as a golf professional and earn an average salary of US$57,141, according to Monster's Salary Wizard. Firefighter There's a lot of work out there in firefighting, but the competition is fierce, so you'll need mechanical aptitude , physical fitness and a bit of firefighting or emergency responder education to win a paid position. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that next decade the industry will grow 9 percent to 336,900 jobs. The average salary for firefighters is US$45,420 a year. If you become chief, you could double that salary. Flight Attendant Free flights are the best benefit offered to flight attendants. Attendants' salaries start at around US$16,191 a year, according to the Association of Flight Attendants. But the salary goes up as you stay on the job, and the average salary for US flight attendants is US$37,740, according to the BLS. Some airlines have minimum and maximum height requirements, and you can't be too large to walk down the aisle facing forward. Being able to speak a second language will make you more appealing to international airlines. What is the text mainly about? An introduction to four cool jobs. One afternoon I took a trip to an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting. I was looking forward to a quiet view of the masterpieces . A young couple looking at the paintings in front of me chatted non--stop. I watched them for a moment and realized she was doing all the talking. I admired this man for being so patient with her. Bored by their noise, I moved on. I met them several times as I moved through those rooms of art. Each time I heard her voice, I moved away quickly. I was standing at the museum gift shop buying some cards when the couple walked to the exit. " He's a brave man, " the clerk said. "Most of us would give up if we were blind at such a young age. But behind his wife come in whenever there's a new art show. " "But what does he get out of the works of art?" I asked. "Hecan't see. " " His wife describes each painting so that he can see it in his head. " I learned something about patience, courage and love that day. I saw the patience of a young wife describing paintings to a person without and the courage of a husband who would not allow blindness to change his life. And I saw the love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away holding each other's hands. Just then, I can't help getting close to them and said, " _ " ,. The woman kept talking while she and her husband were enjoying the art show because _ . she had to explain everything to her blind husband It is that time of the year when the warm, late Summer days meet the cold, early Autumn nights. The skies on days like these are bright and clear. The air is cool, fresh, and full of the smell of wild flowers. The leaves on the trees are dark green but with splashes of red appearing here and there. It is a really beautiful time of the year. Every where and in everything you can see change. Birds are starting to migrate. Children are getting ready for another school year. People are looking back on the fun days of Summer and forward to the busy days of Fall. It is days like these that remind me that while seasons, weather, and nature's colors may change it is all beautiful and it is all joyful. And I am changing too. My thick wavy hair is now pretty thin on top. Its dark brown color is now getting some gray sprinkled in it. The smile lines around my eyes and mouth are deeper now and stay with me even when I stop smiling. My glasses continue to get thicker with each new pair and the music I love is now referred to as "oldies". Still, I feel so happy and joyful in my life. I am grateful for my younger years because they taught me so much. What I have learned and experienced has gotten me to where I am today. I am grateful for my present because _ I feel happiness in every moment that God has given me, and I take great delight in all the changes life brings. Life is a never ending journey of change and growth. Life's changes never stop but neither does life's joy. From this passage we can learn _ . the author is not young any longer at present Starting a stamp collection is easy and not very expensive. Before you start, you need to decide what kind of stamps you want to collect. Most people collect stamps that they are interested in: a certain country or an animal, a famous person or even a sport. Whatever you choose, you will find that there is a world of knowledge in stamps: you will learn about people, geography, building, history and culture. You can collect stamps from letters, ask your friends to let you have their old stamps, or you can buy used stamps. When you get a letter with a stamp on it, carefully cut out the stamp. Leave lots of space around the stamp so that you will not _ it. Put the stamp in water and wait until you can safely remove the stamp. Carefully remove the stamp off the letter. Place the wet stamp between two clean pieces of paper. A stamp can get wrinkled when it dries, so put some books on top. What does the writer think of collecting stamps? Useful
The periodic table of the elements is systematically organized according to the Answer: structure of the atoms of the elements. Reading is the key to success in all school subjects. With a bit of creativity, you can help your child enjoy reading more, and encourage him to do more! Buy or borrow a lot of "fun" books. Choose books that are slightly below his level of reading ability. Don't forget what your child likes to do when choosing books for him. Don't comment about the books. Simply leave the books lying on the table where your child is sure to see them. Computer games are not as harmful as most parents usually think them to be. Instead, you should take advantage of your child's love of computer games to purchase those that require a lot of reading and avoid those that are simply computerized video games. Buy your child a bedside reading lamp, or a tiny book light. Tell him that from now on, he must be in bed by a specific time (say 8:30) and that he can either sleep or read. Most kids will do anything else rather than go to sleep, so there's a chance you'll create a new bedtime reading habit. Many children will read when they are sitting alone having a snack, or when they have a few minutes of unplanned free time. Put a box of books and magazines near the kitchen table so that reading material is accessible. Often, once children learn to read independently, parents stop reading to them. This change of routine causes great sadness to a child who has come to love falling asleep as you read. Even a teenager will enjoy being read to if you pick books that interest him. Select books together, and make sure they're ones you enjoy as well, so your enjoyment will come through as you read to them. Which of the following is NOT what parents are advised to do? Answer: Reduce children's sleeping time. Hello, everyone. Because of the high rate of school violence in some areas, teenagers' safety becomes a serious problem. We are planning to set up an organization named School Watch to make sure that students have a safe environment. Please be part of our plan! What is School Watch? School Watch is a volunteer project in our school. It helps us stop violence and improve the quality of school life. It will keep yourself and your schoolmates safe. The other members of School Watch care for you and your classroom and you do the same for them. Is it for everyone? Anybody can become a member of School Watch because everyone has something to offer. What else can it do? School Watch makes it possible for us not only to help each other but also to make friends with each other. Some members may offer to help schoolmates who have problems with their homework. Who is the Best School Watcher? Our school will look for the Best School Watcher and give him or her lots of prizes. You could be the one! How do you start? To be part of this plan, the only thing you need to do is to talk to the director of the plan in your grade. If you want to get more information, check the official website atwww. schoolwatch. com. If you want to be a member of School Watch, you should _ . Answer: talk to the director of the plan in your grade At sixteen Ron Mackie might have stayed at school, but the future called to him excitedly. Get out the classroom into a job." it said, and Ron obeyed .His father ,supporting the decision, found a place for him in a supermarket. "You are lucky, Ron", he said. "For every boy with a job these days, there's a dozen without." So Ron joined the working world at twenty pounds a week. For a year he spent his days filling shelves with tins of food. By the end of that time he was looking back on his schooldays as a time of treat variety and satisfaction. He searched for an interest in his work, with little success. One fine day instead of going to work Ron got a lift on a lorry going south. With nine pounds in his pocket, a full heart and a great longing for the sea, he set out to make a better way for himself. That evening, in Bournemouth, he had sandwich and a drink in a cafe run by an eldly man and his wife. Before he had finished the sandwich, the woman had taken him on for the rest of the summer, at twenty pounds a week, a room upstairs and three meals a day. The ease and speed of it rather took Ron's breath away. At quiet times Ron had to check the old man's arithmetic in the records of the business. At the end of the season, he stayed on the coast. He was again surprised how straightforward it was for a baby of seventeen to make a living. He worked in shops mostly, but once he took a job in hotel for three weeks. Late in October he was taken on by the sick manager of a shoe shop. Ron soon found himself in charge there; he was the only one who could keep the books. Why did Ron leave the supermarket? Answer: He wanted to work at the seaside. You know that balloons must be kept away from sharp objects. They also needed to be kept away from flames. A fire can weaken the rubber and cause it to break. However, in this experiment you will find out how you can hold a balloon directly in a flame without breaking the balloon. Materials needed: * two round balloons not inflated * several matches * water Inflate one of the balloons and tie it. Place 1/4 cup of water in the other balloon, and then inflate it and tie it. Light a match and hold it under the first balloon. Allow the flame to touch the balloon. What happens? The balloon breaks, perhaps even before the flame touches it. Light another match. Hold it directly under the water in the second balloon. Allow the flame to touch the balloon. What happens to this balloon? It doesn't break. Why does the balloon with no water break in the flame? The flame heats the rubber of both balloons. The rubber of the balloon without water becomes so hot that it becomes too weak to _ the pressure of the air inside the balloon. However, when the balloon with water in it is placed in the flame, the water takes in most of the heat from the flame. Then, the rubber of the balloon doesn't become very hot, it doesn't weaken, and the balloon doesn't break. Water is a particularly good absorber of heat. It takes a lot of heat to change the temperature of water. On the other hand, when water cools, it gives off a great deal of heat. That's why areas near oceans or other large bodies of water don't get as cold in winter as areas at the same latitude further inland. The purpose of the experiment described in the passage is to prove that _ . Answer: water is a particularly good absorber of heat
Question: There's nothing like experiencing history to understand it.So instead of reading about the U.S.Civil War in textbooks,some schoolchildren in Virginia are creating videos related to the conflict,in which the northern Union and southern Confederate states fought over several issues,including slavery,from l861--1865. In one scene, children act as two Union generals, meeting at the Kaploan Klver in central Virginia.The l2-and l3-year-olds are producing a mini--video on the key role temporary pontoon bridges played during the war.After building and crossing a pontoon bridge,Union soldiers defeated a Confederate army in the Battle of the Wilderness. In another scene,students act as soldiers who are marching to the river with guns.Today,the area is part of a national military park.Park Educational Coordinator Peter Maugle shows the children how to hold the fake guns."Hopefully they will understand why these places are important through projects and programs like this,and they will make an effort to keep these places preserved for future generations,''he said. Another background is a plantation where much of the Battle of the Wilderness was fought. At this location,another group of children is focusing on the diary of a woman who lived in the region during the war.Student director John Ashley says the experience has made him think more about the human aspect of the war.Filmmaker Ghil Hong donated his time to help the students, who have understood it quickly."They are trying to convey the emotions during the Civil War.They really focus on wanting the story to be accurate,''Hong added. With help from advisors,the children also research,write,and edit the videos.Alexis Albert got a chance to try out directing and learned a lot about Civil War history in the process. "It helps me more as a student understand it more than reading a book and looking at words,"he said. The project is sponsored by the Journey Through Hallowed Ground,which raises awareness of historical sites from Pennsylvania to Virginia, including many Civil War battlegrounds. The group of children is focusing on the diary to_. A. know more about history of the plantation B. know more about the human nature during the war C. spend their spare time in the plantation D. make up more stories for the film Answer: B Question: Jim was looking up at the sky when he saw it. He saw a bright light. It got brighter and brighter. But after a few seconds, it started getting less bright. It took him a second to know for sure, but he knew he had seen a shooting star! This wasn't the first time that Jim had seen something strange in the sky. It was last year, when he was driving home from work at night. He saw another light in the sky that night, but it wasn't anything like this one. The one he saw last year didn't get brighter. The one he saw last year didn't get less bright. The one he saw last year was round, and Jim was sure that it was a space ship. When Jim saw the shooting star tonight, he was even more sure of what he saw last year. Some people said that the space ship was really a shooting star. But now that he had seen a real shooting star, he knew for sure that this one was different. Jim wondered what planet the space ship had come from. What got brighter? A. The sun. B. The shooting star. C. The space ship. D. The light in his house. Answer: B Question: To succeed in business or life we must continually take actions. Putting yourself on the line day after day can be extremely boring, especially when things do not work out as desired. Each time a disappointing event happens, I like to get reminded of these famous failures: Gates has literally changed the work culture of the world in the 20the and the 21st centuries, by simplifying the way the computer is being used. He was the world's richest man for more than one decade. However, in the 1970's before starting out, he was a Harvard University dropout. The most ironic part is that he started a software company by purchasing the software technology from someone for only $50 back then. Lincoln received no more than five years of formal education throughout his lifetime. When he grew up, he joined politics and had 12 major failures before he was elected the 16th President of the United States of America. Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. His work on optics and gravitation made him one of the greatest scientists the world has even known. Many thought that Newton was born a genius, but he wasn't! When he was young, he did very poorly in grade school, so poor that his teachers became helpless in improving his grades. Beethoven is widely regarded as one of history's great composers. His reputation has inspired composers, musicians and audiences who were to come after him. Before the start of his career, Beethoven's music teacher once said of him "as a composer, he is hopeless". And during his career, he lost his hearing yet he managed to produce great music. A deaf man composing music, ironic, isn't it! What does the author do if something disappoints him? A. He will go on without thought even though he may fail. B. He will think of some famous failures in his life. C. He will start to tell himself some successful stories. D. He will refer to some famous persons' failure stories. Answer: D Question: Mark twain tells a boy's story in The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. Huck is a poor child, without a mother or home. His father drinks too much alcohol and always beats him. Huck's situation has freed him from the restriction of society. He explores in the woods and goes fishing. He stays out all night and does not go to school. He smokes. Huck runs away from home. He meets Jim, a black man who has escaped from slavery . They travel together on a raft made of wood down the Mississippi River. Mark twain started writing "Huckleberry Finn" as a children's story. But it soon became serious. The story tells about the social evil of slavery, seen through the eyes of an innocent child. Huck's ideas about people were formed by the white society in which he lived. So, at first, he does not question slavery. Huck knows that important people believe slavery is natural, the law of God. So, he thinks it is his duty to tell Jim's owners where to find him. Later, Huck comes to understand that Jim is a good man. He finds he cannot carry out his plan to inform Jim's owners of his whereabouts . Instead, he decides to help Jim escape. He decides to do this, even if God punished him. What can he inferred from the text? A. Huck is a white boy. B. Huck's childhood is a reflection of that of Mark Twain's. C. It 's Huck's situation that makes him decide to travel with Jim. D. Huck will be punished by God for what he does. Answer: A Question: What is so different about Moisture Surge? These hydrating formulas rapidly make thirsty skin smooth and soft. Oil-free and fit for all skin types, they help: Quickly increase skin's moisture level with hydrating relief in a high-speed delivery system; Restore skin's moisture balance; Make up dry lines. Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief Rapid, long-lasting hydration in a refreshing oil-free gel . Fast-absorbing formula locks in moisture all day and helps skin better resist dry despite great shifts in humidity. Use whenever, wherever needed, under or over makeup, or as a 5-minute moisture mask . Moisture Surge Face Water Thirsty Skin Relief Refreshing facial water. Great for use anytime, anywhere, under or over makeup. Moisture Surge Extra Refreshing Eye GEL* Cool and comfortable eye gel. Doctor-tested. Use whenever needed, under or over makeup. Moisture Surge Facial Sheet Mask* Refreshing, pre-moistened full-face sheet mask. Apply 1-2 times a week for a quick moisturizing. To use: unfold and apply to clean skin. Rest for 10 minutes, and then remove the mask. Moisture Surge Refreshing Eye Mask* Refreshing pre-moistened eye pads . Apply 1-2 times a week to reduce under-eye puffiness and skin with quick hydration. To use: remove pads from packets and separate. Apply to clean under-eye skin. Rest for 10 minutes, and then remove pads. Moisture Sheer Tint 15* Refreshing, wash of color that hydrates and makes skin bright with special materials and SPF 15 sunscreen. Three skin-friendly shades wear beautifully alone or under makeup. WARNING: keep out of eyes. Stop use if any pain occurs. Keep out of reach of children. Please pay attention to: *stands for "Not available in all countries. " According to the passage, Moisture Surge is the name of _ . A. a product of eyes B. an oil-free formula C. a sun-blocking cream D. a series of skin care products Answer: D
Face book, the world's biggest social networking site, is celebrating its sixth birthday. The site's founder, Mark Zuckergerg, states that Face book will continue to work as hard as it has worked in the last six years in order to stay the web's number one communication site. The company started in a dorm room in 2004. Today it has 150 million active users, more than the 130 million of its competitor MySpace. Face book set itself apart from other social networking sites because you can communicate with people you really know and trust. Before, most people didn't want to share their real identities online. Face book has given people a safe and trusted environment for people to interact online. It has changed the way people view the world. A friend from any country is only a few clicks away. It was back in February 2004 when Zuckerberg started "the Face book" from a Harvard student's room. The aim was to help students get in touch with each other over the Internet. Within 24 hours over a thousand students had signed up and soon after that the network spread out to other universities. By 2005 a research study showed that about 85% of the students in the network had a Face book account. Another survey showed that Face book was almost as important as an iPod. At the end of 2005 Face book came to the UK. And up to today the site has been translated into 35 languages. Six years after its start, Face book has escaped the universities and colleges. More than half of its users are not at college any more and the fastest growing group are the 30 to 40-year-olds. Every day 15 million users update their profiles to tell their friends and the world what's happening to them. They also share photos, upload videos, chat, make friends, join groups and simply have fun. The passage mainly discusses _ . how Face book is developed Sitting in the play area of the doctor's office, my children, Paul, four, and Bailey, three, built a Lego tower while we waited to be called for Paul's examination. "Good job, you guys,"I said, trying not to sound too tired. My husband was away on business, and it was difficult being alone with the kids. At times I felt like I was living in the jungle rather than the suburbs. "Don't put the Lego in your mouth, Bailey,"I said. Paul grabbed it from him."That's not nice, Paul,"I said. He gave back the Lego. I looked around the waiting room. A woman was eating something, a couple were talking, and an old gentleman in a blue jacket was reading a magazine. I wished I could sit quietly for a while. I wanted to be able to take a rest, or go shopping alone. At once, I was ashamed of myself. What kind of mother was I? "God,"I thought, "help me to be the very best mom I can be." The nurse came into the waiting room to get us. Just at that moment, the old gentleman in the waiting room put down his magazine and came up to me. With a smile on his face, he said, "Your children are most certainly lucky to have such a wonderful mother.""Thank you,"I replied in a low voice and watched him walk back to his seat. We followed the nurse into the examination room. While she weighed Paul, I told her how that man had made my day. Motherhood is still a jungle sometimes, but now when I feel tired I remember the encouraging words of the old gentleman. What can we learn from the passage? The writer was greatly encouraged by the old gentleman's words. Some people were eating and drinking in a coffee house. A young woman was sitting alone at a table. She was wearing a beautiful diamond necklace. There was an ugly man at a table not far from her. He was looking at her necklace all the time. Suddenly the lights went out. The coffee house was in darkness. The woman started to shout. She was very frightened. A few minutes later the lights came on again. The woman was crying. Her necklace was missing. The manager quickly closed all the doors. He telephoned the police. No one could get out of the coffee house. The policemen soon came. The police inspector told his men to search everyone. The necklace was not on anyone. They then searched the whole coffee house. The necklace couldn't be found. The police inspector then looked at the faces of all the people in the coffee house. He saw the ugly man and looked at the man carefully. He went up to the man and picked up the bowl of soup that was on his table. He then poured the soup into a glass. The necklace fell out. The policemen caught hold of the man and took him away. The young woman was happy to get back her necklace. The manager closed all the doors and _ . telephoned the police Eye Facts There are many commonly held beliefs about eyesight that are not proven facts. For example, some people believe that wearing glasses too soon weakens the eyes. But there is no evidence to show that the structure of eyes is changed by wearing glasses at young age. Wearing the wrong glasses, however, can prove harmful. Studies show that for adults there is no danger, but children can develop loss of sight if they have glasses unsuitable for their eyes. We have all heard some of the common myths about how eyesight gets bad. Most people believe that reading in weak light causes poor eyesight, but that is untrue. Too little light makes the eyes work harder, so they do get tired and strained. Eyestrain also results from reading a lot, reading in bed, and watching too much television. However, although eyestrain may cause some pain or headaches, it does not damage eyesight in the long term. Another myth about eyes is that they can be replaced, or transplanted from one person to another. There are close to one million nerve fibers that connect the eyeball to the brain; as of yet, it is impossible to connect them all in a new person. Only certain parts of the eye can be replaced. But if we keep clearing up the myths and learning more about the eyes, someday a full transplant may be possible! One cause of eyestrain mentioned in the passage is _ . reading in poor light For years, business people in Western Europe were worried. They knew they could not compete against business from the U.S. The United States is much larger and had many more resources than any Western European countries. Some European people realized that the European nations need to join together to help each other. If they could forget their language differences and the differences in customs, they might become strong competition against other countries. In 1958, six of the European countries --- Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Italy got together and decided to cooperate. They called their group the European Economic Community, or the Common Market. These countries agreed to join their resources together. Within a few years, the European Economic Community had worked so well that its members were more prosperous than many other European nations. Soon, other nations began to realize the advantage of the Common Market. Today the Common Market includes most of the important countries in Western Europe. It is helping Western Europe to again take its place as a leader among the industrial nations of the world. The members of the European Economic Community have developed fast because they _ . share their resources and become more prosperous
How you end a computer session depends on how you use the computer, your views on energy conservation , and what you have been told about how your decision will affect your investment's longevity: will frequent starting and stopping cause its circuits to burn out sooner? Rest easy, your computer is more likely to be damaged by a virus picked up from the Internet than by being turned off and on too much. They are also energyefficient: such efficiency has reached the point where most computers place themselves in sleep mode if they remain idle for a certain period of time. So your computer will likely slip into sleep mode anyway, even if you leave it on overnight. Sleep mode itself, once a pretty unreliable option--you never knew if you would be able to wake your computer without having to reboot it--has been vastly improved with newer operating systems. If you want your computer to consume as little energy as possible when not in use, shut it down. If you want it to consume zero energy, you're going to have to unplug (......) it. Your computer can be in only three states: on, sleep or off--each of which draws some level of electric current. A computer that is "on" will either be actively processing information or sitting idle, depending on whether the user is typing a document, reading an email or has stepped away briefly. The amount of wattage drawn when the computer is on varies greatly depending on whether it is a laptop or a desktop computer. The latter uses more energy because desktop power supplies are less efficient and require a separate and often larger, powerhungry monitor. It also varies based on the type of work being done: complex calculations requiring intensive processing are more powerhungry, whereas writing or Web browsing consumes far less electricity. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text that contributes to the different amount of energy a computer consumes? Answer: Whether the operating systems are new. The Acronym, our student newspaper, reports that many students go to sleep at 1:30 a. m. _ Scientists say teens should sleep nine hours each night. But that's hard to do. Some even _ . In the morning they don't look good. One of my classmates did a survey on this problem. She found that most kids pull all-nighters to finish homework, but some do it for other reasons, such as playing computer games. I usually go to bed around midnight. If I stay up past l:30 a. m., I won't get any work done. I'll fall asleep at my computer. My classes begin at 7:30 a. m. I am partly awake in my first class. By midday, I am finally wide-awake. But by 3:00 p. m. I am slowing down again. Yet I get more sleep than the Acronym's many students. Most American high schools seem to have a similar problem with sleepy students. High school classes start at 7:30 a. m., so students have to wake up one and a half hours before that to get ready and catch the bus. It's believed that lack of sleep can damage both grades and health. What's the main problem the passage mentions? Answer: Many teenagers don't have enough sleep. The Independent Project at the Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, is attracting huge interest in the education field. The program is a new concept that has developed a wide variety of students' abilities and excited their interest in education and self-directed learning. They are a group of students that , instead of being educated through the normal school courses, have created their own subjects and project-based interactive learning. The students are almost completely independent. They choose a goal that they want to accomplish and work on for the whole year. These goals have included some impressive attempts such as writing a novel, writing a play , learning the piano and more. Along with these larger attempts , the students meet every day to ask questions about other subjects like natural sciences , social sciences, etc. Although most of them say that they don't like math, they did eventually develop an interest in math through this independent learning technique. The education program, which has attracted a huge variety of students, allows the students to learn and develop research skills and questioning techniques and allows them to truly be interested in the subjects they are diving into . They also teach each other what they have learned , which allows them to develop different way of presenting and gathering material that they have researched. I wish that I could have participated in such a project during my high school career, like writing a novel. I am currently studying English as well as education to pursue a teaching degree. I would love to adapt independent driven projects into a classroom in the future. This project also raises some crucial questions. Do we need to rethink the structure of the education system itself? Are too many students being simply fed through a conveyor belt that we blindly see as working toward their education? I think that the education system needs some improvements , and different learning styles need to be addressed immediately. Individual differences in learning are huge keys to the functioning of a classroom. This project takes the idea to a whole new level. This is an extremely important event in the development of the American education system and I think everyone needs to keep an eye out for more programs like this. What is the author's attitude towards the Independent Project? Answer: Approving The story goes that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "Today my best friend slapped me in the face." They kept on walking until they found an oasis , where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning , but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "Today my best friend saved my life." The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you write on a stone. Why?" The other friend replied: _ can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in 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. One friend slapped the other because _ . Answer: He was angry that his friend did not agree with him about something. I think that the most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention and especially if its given from the heart. When people are talking, there's no need to do anything but receive them. Just take them in. Listen to what they're saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand, we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen, they know we care. I have even learned to respond to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for the tissues , until I realized that passing a person a tissue may be just another way to shut them down, to take them out of their experience of sadness and pain. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry, they find me there with them. This simple thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been taught since I was very young at school. I thought people listened only because they were too timid to speak or did not know the answer. A loving silence often has far more power to connect and to heal than the most well-intentioned words. Passing a person who is crying a tissue perhaps means _ Answer: stopping them from crying any more
Hello,everyone.let me introduce myself.My name is Wang Mei.I'm 1.7 metres tall.My eyes are black.I have long red hair.My favourite colour is blue.My favourite clothes are dresses.I feel happy every day because I have many friends.They look different,but they are very kind to me.Jenny has short blond hair.Her eyes are brown.She is 1.65 meters tall.Li Ming is my friend ,too.He has short black hair.He is 1.7 metres tall,too.Danny has three hairs and they're green.His favourite colour is green .He is 1.6 metres tall. Is Li Ming's hair short or long? Several weeks ago, a mysterious Christmas card dropped through our mailbox. The envelope was addressed to a man named Raoul, who, I was ly certain, did not live with us. The envelope wasn't sealed, so I opened it. The inside of the card was blank. Ed, my husband, explained that the card was both from and to the newspaper deliveryman. His name was apparently Raoul, and Raoul wanted a holiday tip. We were meant to put a check inside the card and then drop the envelope in the mail. When your services are finished at 4 a.m., you can't simply hang around, like a hotel bellboy expecting a tip. You have to be direct. So I wrote a nice holiday greeting to this man who, in my imagination, fires The New York Times from his bike aimed at our front door, causing more noise with mere newsprint than most people manage with sophisticated black market fireworks. With a start, I realized that perhaps the reason for the 4 a.m. wake-up noise was not ordinary rudeness but carefully executed spite : I had not tipped Raoul in Christmas past. I honestly hadn't realized I was supposed to. This was the first time he'd used the card tactic . So I got out my checkbook. Somewhere along the line, holiday tipping went from an optional thank-you for a year of services to a Mafia-style protection racket . Several days later, I was bringing our garbage bins back when I noticed an envelope taped to one of the lids. The outside of the envelope said MICKEY. It had to be another tip request, this time from our garbage collector. Unlike Raoul, Mickey hadn't enclosed his own Christmas card from me. In a way, I appreciated the directness. "I know you don't care how merry my Christmas is, and that's fine," the gesture said. "I want $30, or I'll 'forget' to empty your garbage bin some hot summer day." I put a check in the envelope and taped it back to the bin. The next morning, Ed noticed that the envelope was gone, though the trash hadn't yet been picked up: "Someone stole Mickey's tip!" Ed was quite certain. He made me call the bank and cancel the check. But Ed had been wrong. Two weeks later, Mickey left a letter from the bank on our steps. The letter informed Mickey that the check, which he had tried to cash, had been cancelled. The following Tuesday morning, when Ed saw a truck outside, he ran out with his wallet. "Are you Mickey?" The man looked at him with scorn . "Mickey is the garbageman. I am the recycling." Not only had Ed insulted this man by suggesting that he was a garbageman, but he had obviously neglected to tip him. Ed ran back inside for more funds. Then he noticed that the driver of the truck had been watching the whole incident. He peeled off another twenty and looked around, waving bills in the air. "Anyone else? " Had we consulted the website of the Emily Post Institute, this embarrassing break of etiquette could have been avoided. Under "trash/recycling collectors" in the institute's Holiday Tipping Guidelines, it says: "$10 to $30 each." You may or may not wish to know that your hairdresser, mailman and UPS guy all expect a holiday tip. Ed's encounter with the recycling team shows that _ . Joe,31,has spent nearly three years in a prison in Douglas, South Africa, counting the days in prison for house breaking. Joe made bad friends, who were always talking about stealing. Later, Joe did things bad. "I want to be a bright, bright star. I want people, when they hear me, to see the darkness a little less." The first seven months in prison he thought about "everything".Then he started to write songs." I started to put my feelings into words," said Joe. Aron Turest-Swartz, Freshly Ground's founder, noticed Joe's music." I was really shocked because I hadn't heard a voice like that before,"he said. Turest-Swartz visited Joe and listened to some of the 40 songs he had written in prison, and came up with the idea of recording an album there. When Joe was 13, his family was very poor: his sister would tell him that she had a headache because of no enough food, but there was nothing to give her. Joe made bad friends, who were always talking about stealing. Later, Joe did things bad. Finally, he was put behind bars. Prison could have broken him: he couldn't even see his family members buried. His father died when he was in prison. So did Joe's 18-month-old daughter. Before prison, he'd seen her in the hospital. Joe felt broken when she died. But he marked the time of his rebirth--his decision to be a better man--from that moment." I decided to be myself. So I started behaving like a gentleman,"he said. On December 13,2010,the album he recorded in prison was timed for release ( ).He was set free for good behavior after two years and 10 months. That afternoon, Joe gave a concert at the prison to celebrate his freedom and his CD, Crazy Life. Joe got into a crowd favorite. Joe was put into prison when he was about . Miss Evans was going to give a lecture on Friday afternoon. But on Thursday night she was told that she had to go to an important meeting the next day at the same time. "No one can be in two places at the same time. What shall I do?" she thought. But soon, she had an idea. At five to three on Friday afternoon, Miss Evans went to the lecture room. There were twenty students waiting there for her. "I'm sorry," she told them, "I won't be able to give my lecture today." The students looked surprised. Miss Evans explained that she had an important meeting. "However," she went on, "though I can't be with you myself, my voice can." Then she put a small tape recorder on the desk, "You see, I've recorded my lecture and you can listen to it without me." Miss Evans turned on the recorder and left. The meeting ended a little early. Miss Evans decided to go back to her students. She stood for a moment outside the lecture room, listening to her own voice. Then quickly, she opened the door. To her surprise, the room was empty. As she looked around, she saw a number of small recorders "listening" to her lecture! "Well," she thought, "If I can be in two places at the same time, why can't they?" Miss Evans thought it was _ . High school plays a major role in shaping up your future and your whole development. extracurricular activities along with the studies can be very helpful. Make yourself take part in various activities and at the same time try to stand out in your studies. When you move out to college these efforts that you put in may count for a lot. High school is not just about books or classes. Schools always provide opportunities for students to socialize . There are various group tasks designed which allow the students to learn to work together. High school is the right time for you to discover yourself and bring out some of your hidden talents. In your lessons, you may find that you are better at English than you were earlier or have grown an interest for Math. High school also provides many other opportunities for students to take part in. These help develop leadership skills and management skills at an early age, which in turn is a way of preparing students to manage and plan their careers better. Balancing all activities is an experience in time management. If you have taken up a part-time job along with your high school you would have to arrange your time for studies, and extracurricular activities. Such management can go a long way in teaching you to manage things better when you take up a job. Moreover, they help build your character. You would be better prepared for additional stress that you may feel sometimes. When at high school you should pick up your classes wisely. Depending upon what you like and your career plan you should choose suitable classes. Doing something that you hardly like may get you very low grades as well as lose valuable time. Take up interesting and challenging classes that would allow you to put in those extra efforts. The author considers high school the time for us to _
A creature can hide in plain sight from predators because A it burns B it misdirects C it cries D it stinks Answer: B Skin-diving is a new sport today. This sport take you into a wonderful new world. It is like a visit to the moon! When you are under water, it is easy for you to climb big rocks, because you are on longer heavy. Here, under water, everything is blue and green. During the day, there is plenty of light. When fish swims nearby, you can catch them with your hands. When you have tanks of air on your back, you can stay in deep water for a long time. But you must be careful when you dive in deep water. To catch fish is one of the most interesting parts of this sport. Besides, there are more uses for Skin-diving. You can clean ships without taking them out of the water. You can get many things from the deep sea. Now you can see that Skin-diving is both useful and interesting. Skin-diving can take you to _ . A an exciting world B a new world C a beautiful world D an interesting and new world Answer: D China is home to the invention of silk and has a long tradition of producing fine materials for clothing. Not all clothing in ancient or contemporary( ) China is made of silk, however. In fact, silk was only available to the wealthy classes for much of China's history. Until the introduction of cotton during the Ming Dynasty, from the 14th to the 17th century, the poorer classes wore rough clothing made from fibers . In ancient China, the tunic was particularly popular . Called hanfu , both men and women could be seen wearing tunics made of different materials. Women's tunics were long and loose , extending all the way down to their feet and often _ with a belt or rope to get tighter . Men's tunics were shorter, usually only extending down to their knees. During the winter, both men and women would wear cotton jackets for warmth. In the winter, men would also wear pants or ankle-length skirts into their clothes to keep warm and protect their legs against the cold winter conditions. Contemporary Chinese clothing is now made of many of the same materials as contemporary clothing found in other countries. Much of the traditional Chinese clothing produced now is made of cotton and silk, but generally contemporary Chinese clothing also contains synthetic fibers in with the cotton and silk, such as nylon . In addition, linen is now commonly used in contemporary Chinese clothing, especially during the summer months because it is light and breathable. In ancient China, only wealthy people could afford clothes made from _ . A silk B fiber C cotton D linen Answer: A Part of the magic in movies is the costumes. They can transform a normal-looking actor into a cowboy, a space alien or even a superhero. Costumes for movies are designed and created by a whole team of people, according to Courtney Daniel, a Toronto-based costume designer who worked on the recent movie Night At The Museum. As a designer, she does research to find out what details are needed to make a costume work, and what makes sense for a specific movie. In Night At The Museum, she and a few other designers spent time at libraries and museums studying everything from what cowboys should wear, to what ancient Egyptians and Huns would have put on. Once they got the information they needed, they figured out what fabrics to use and how to put them together. The designers even changed a few details to make the costumes more "movie friendly". For example, more colour and extra touches helped historical costumes to be alive for kids. One example of this is the costume for the role in the movie Night At The Museum, an Indian woman Sacagawea, which has a shorter skirt and fits more closely than the clothes the real Sacagawea would have worn. Daniel has also worked on costumes for other big-name movies, such as the second and third X-Men movies, and Catwoman. If you are. interested in being a costume designer, it helps to have an interest in sewing. She said,"Learning how to sew, and how different fabrics and materials work is important."So is knowing how to carry out research, Daniel's degree in art history helped in this area. According to the passage, a designer _ . A needs to know every country's culture B should learn how to carry out research C needs to learn about the Egyptians' way of life D won't be successful without a degree in art history Answer: B LONDON--A morning's train ride away, across the Channel, English kids talk about Liverpool's soccer team in aprefix = st1 /Parispub. Some Parisians have even started to go to work in London. In the 19thcentury, Charles Dickens compared the two great rival cities, London and Paris, in "A Tale of Two Cities." These days, it might be A Tale of One City. Parisians are these days likely to smile in sympathy at a visitor's broken French and respond in polite English. As jobs grew lack at home over recent years, perhaps 250,000 Frenchmen moved across the Channel. With an undersea tunnel, they could travel between cities in three hours. The European Union freed them from immigration and customs. Paris, rich in beauty, is more attractive. But Londonfeels more full of life, and more fun until the pubs shut down. "For me, the difference is that Londonis real, alive," said Trevor Wheeler, a banker. Chantal Jaouen, a professional designer, agrees. "I am French, but I'll stay in London," she said. There is, of course, the other view. Julie Lenoux is a student who moved to Londontwo years ago. "I think people laugh more inParis," she said. In fact, London and Paris, with their obvious new similarities, are beyond the cold descriptions. As the European Union gradually loosened controls, Londoners _ intoParisto shop, eat and buy property. "Both cities have changed beyond recognition." Said Larry Collins, a writer and sometimes a Londoner. Like most people who know both well, he finds the two now fit together comfortably. "I first fell in love with Parisin the 1950s, and it is still a wonderful place," Collins said. "But if I had to choose, it would be London. Things are so much more ordered, and life is better." But certainly not cheaper. In fancy parts of London, rents can be twice those on Avenue Foch in Paris. Deciding between London and Parisrequires a lifestyle choice. Like Daphne Benoit, a French journalism student with perfect English, many young people are happy to be close enough so they don't have to choose. "I love Paris, my little neighborhood, the way I can walk around a centre, but life is so structured," she said. "InLondon, you can be who you want. No one cares." From the passage we can know _ . A the two cities have developed very fast B London is better thanParisnow C Paris is a favorite place for all journalism students D people in both London andParisnow lead a regular life Answer: A
Mark, Matthew, Zach and John love to play Football. They did not really care for baseball, basketball or soccer much. They enjoy it so much that they like to draw silly pictures on to their arms and notebooks showing footballs. Then when the teacher sees them they have to use the pink erasers to erase the drawings. One day Mark was out playing football when he tripped and hurt his knee, the next day Matthew was also playing football when he fell and hurt his arm. Both boys could not play their favorite games now. So to cheer them up, Matthew's parents bought them a new football game they could play at home. When Mark showed up to play, they had also made chocolate chip pancakes as a present to both of them, even if both of their favorite food was bacon, waffles and hamburgers. After some time both boys got bored with the game and thought to build their own. So they got some cardboard and tape and built a small table top football game. After that they were busy enough to forget their own hurt parts and had a lot of fun that day. What was the boys favorite sport? A. Football B. Soccer C. basketball D. Baseball Answer: A. Football Two more people have died in China from a new strain of bird flu, raising the death toll from the virus to 13, state media reported Sunday. The official Xinhua News Agency said the two deaths were reported in Shanghai and that three new cases were also confirmed in the financial hub. A total of 11 new cases were reported Sunday - including two in a central province that previously had been unaffected. In all, 60 cases of the virus, known as H7N9, have been reported in China. The two cases reported Sunday in central Henan province, which is next to Beijing, followed an announcement Saturday that a 7-year-old girl had become the first person in the capital to be infected with the virus. All previous reported cases were in Shanghai and other eastern areas of China. A World Health Organization official said Sunday that it wasn't surprising that the virus had spread to Beijing. Michael O'Leary, head of WHO's office in China, said it's not the case that everyone confirmed to be infected with H7N9 was "clustered in one small area with the same source of exposure." "So we've been expecting new cases to occur. ... Furthermore, we still expect that there will be other cases," he said. Four new cases were reported Sunday in eastern Zhejiang province and two more in Jiangsu. Health officials believe the virus, which was first spotted in humans last month, is spreading through direct contact with infected fowl. O'Leary said "the good news" was that there was still no evidence that humans had passed on the virus to other humans. "As far as we know, all the cases are individually infected in a sporadic and not connected way," he said, adding that the source of infection was still being investigated. The girl from Beijing, whose parents are in the live poultry trade, was admitted to a hospital Thursday with symptoms of fever, sore throat, coughing and headache, the Beijing Health Bureau said. O'Leary said early treatment can be effective, as demonstrated by the girl, who was in stable condition. In the only other reported cases outside of eastern China, health officials in Henan province said tests on two men Thursday had later revealed they had the virus. They said a 34-year-old restaurant chef who had displayed flu symptoms for about a week was in critical condition in a hospital, while a 65-year-old farmer who was in frequent contact with poultry was in stable condition after receiving treatment. They said 19 people who had been in close contact with the two men did not show any flu symptoms. China has been more open in its response to the new virus than it was a decade ago with an outbreak of SARS, when authorities were highly criticized for not releasing information. Which statement is NOT TRUE? A. All previous reported cases were in Shanghai and other eastern areas of China. B. The virus, which was first spotted in humans last month, is spreading through direct contact with infected fowl. C. According to O'Leary, there was evidence that humans had passed on the virus to other humans. D. China is more open in response to this new virus. Answer: C. According to O'Leary, there was evidence that humans had passed on the virus to other humans. Twothirds of the world's major rivers have now been disrupted with more than 50,000 dams in an attempt to store water and provide power.In the US,there are more than 85,000 dams,disrupting large and small rivers,and in most cases transforming natural flow.The most famous of these,the Hoover Dam,constructed in the 1930s,is mainly responsible for the fact that the Colorado River no longer reaches the ocean. Dams,besides all their attractive benefits,also have negative impacts.Creating a reservoir means a large area must be flooded.Communities may lose their land,houses and culturally important sites. Environmentally,the new reservoir can be a paradise for wildlife,especially birds;however,it can cause greenhouse gas emissions and poison the water.Also,the dramatic rise and fall of water levels during dam releases is too extreme for plants and animals to cope with,resulting in dead zones around the shores of reservoirs.Fish that lay their eggs in the shallows,for example,may find a few hours later that those sites are high and dry. Downstream of a dam,the flow may be reduced so that farmers cannot irrigate their fields.Many rivers run through national borders,which may cause conflict over precious water.Disputes have been continuing between India and Pakistan,and Turkey,Syria and Iraq,for example. Dams don't just block the flow of water.They also prevent fish migrations,and dams are a barrier to sediment flows.Instead of rushing downriver,sediments get backed up against the dam wall,which causes the reservoir level to increase over time.However,sediments which are rich in nutrients have become a problem.The fertility of the entire system can be influenced,with soils lost during seasonal rains not being replaced. Perhaps the biggest problem can be seen in deltas,which are sinking into the oceans.Groundwater is being extracted to feed the city,causing the city to sink,and sediments washed away by the ocean are no longer being replaced.The result is that sea level rises in cities from Shanghai to Alexandria. What does the passage mainly talk about? A. Environmental loss of dams. B. Cultural loss of dams. C. Economic gain of dams. D. Environmental benefits of dams. Answer: A. Environmental loss of dams. Riding was the favourite activity of Thomas Jefferson, who was the third President of the United States. He usually rode good horses. One day, he was riding outside Washington, when a jockey came near. He did not know the President, but his professional eye was attracted by Mr. Jefferson's horse. He stopped and said that he wanted to buy the horse, but Mr. Jefferson politely refused his offer. The jockey offered more money for the horse, because the closer he looked at the horse, the more he liked it. All of his offers were refused, which made him angry. He then became rude, but his rudeness left as little an impression as his money, for Jefferson had a very good temper. At last, he hit Mr. Jefferson's horse with his whip, getting it to run suddenly. This would have thrown a less skillful rider to the ground, but Jefferson stayed on his seat, and controlled his horse well. The jockey then gave up. He rode with Mr. Jefferson side by side and began to talk with him about politics. Jefferson joined in the conversation. When they got into the city and came close to the gate of the presidential mansion , Mr. Jefferson stopped, and politely invited the man to enter. The jockey was surprised and asked, "Why? Do you live here?" "Yes" was the simple reply. "Why, stranger, what's your name?" "My name is Thomas Jefferson." Embarrassed, the man quickly left, while the President looked at him with a smile and then rode through the gate. Which word can best describe the jockey? A. Professional. B. Skillful. C. Impatient. D. Impolite. Answer: D. Impolite. On February 3rd, 1949, New York Harbor was an exciting place. Many people were there to greet a ship from France. On the ship were 49 French railroad boxcars filled with gifts from the people of France to the people of America. These boxcars were from the famous Merci Train(Merci:a French word meaning "thank you"). After World War II, a lot of factories, roads and farms in France had been destroyed. Many French people had no jobs or money and had little to wear and little to eat. In the winter of 1947, a train was sent across the United States, stopping in cities and towns along the way. At every stop, people gave whatever they could. Factories gave clothing and medicine. Farmers gave food. Families gave money. Even school children gave away their pocket money. All the things were then taken to France by ship. By 1949,the French had begun to recover from the war. The Merci Train was their way of saying "thank you" to America. French people had filled the boxcars with gifts. Most of _ were personal, like hand-made toys, children's drawings, or postcards. But the boxcars themselves were perhaps the most meaningful of the gifts. On each car, the French people had painted the pictures of all their 40 provinces. with an American eagle on the front. The boxcars were taken to each state of America, where they were warmly greeted. Now many of the states still keep their boxcars. Gifts sent by the French people can still be seen in some museums. The Merci Train came out of the war, but it now reminds the world that countries can also work together in peace. The French people painted their 40 provinces and an American eagle on each boxcar because _ . A. they thought France was stronger than America B. it could show the friendship between the two countries C. the boxcars would be more beautiful D. they were very good at painting pictures Answer: B. it could show the friendship between the two countries
Question: Chinese President Hu Holds Telephone Talks With Bush Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday spoke over phone with George W. Bush about international cooperation to cope with the ongoing global financial turmoil . The leaders exchanged ideas about the planned international financial summits and strengthening international cooperation to stabilize the financial markets. Bush said the prefix = st1 /United Stateshopes to make joint efforts with the international community to seek measures to overcome the crisis and maintain the stability of the world economy. Hu, for his part, said Chinahas noted the measures taken by theU.S.government to stabilize the domestic financial market. The measures are conducive to the stability of the world economy and financial markets, Hu said. The Chinese government has taken a series of important measures to _ the financial crisis and maintain the stability of financial and capital markets, as well as ensure steady economic growth, he added. The government of Chinawill continue to assume a responsible attitude toward the Chinese people and people of other countries, and to work closely with the international community to maintain the stability of the global economy and financial markets, President Hu said. (Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2008) Which of the following is NOT true? A. Hu approves of the measures taken by theUS. B. China has made a great effort to stabilize the economic growth. C. Bush wishesChinato take the lead in coping with the present crisis. D. The crisis has caused international concern. Answer: C Question: This is my first day at our new school. In the morning, I help my new teacher Mr Hu put some new English textbooks into a big box. And then I carry it to the classroom. The box is very heavy. I walk very slowly with the big heavy box in my arms. A boy runs very fast to me. He can't stop. Oh, dear! My box drops on the floor and there are books everywhere on the floor. "I'm very sorry," the boy says again and again. He helps me to pick up all the books. He then helps me to carry the books to our classroom. Who is he? He is my classmate. His name is Jim. He comes to China with his father. He is from England. In the morning, I help _ to carry the box to our classroom.. A. my parents B. my new classmate C. my new teacher D. my good friend Jim Answer: C Question: On Tuesday, Timmy went to go visit his grandma for the day. She lived in a town close to where Timmy lived, so Timmy got in the car and his mom drove him to his grandma's house. Timmy wanted to bring his big white dog with him, but his mom said no because his grandma doesn't like dogs. Instead, Timmy brought his favorite toys: a blue car, a puzzle with a picture of green trees on it, and a few fun board games in brown boxes. When Timmy got to his grandma's house, she was standing at the door waiting for him. She had a plate of cookies in her hands and was very excited to see him. "Hi, Timmy!" She said. "Hi, Grandma!" Timmy said. "I'm so happy to see you!" Grandma smiled. "We're going to have so much fun today, Timmy. I have ham sandwiches, chips, and fresh lemonade for lunch, and I also have a whole plate of warm cookies all for you." "Wow, Grandma, that sounds great! I brought some games for us to play. This is going to be a great day!" Grandma and Timmy went inside Grandma's house and Timmy opened his bag of toys to show Grandma. She looked at the car, the puzzle, and the games, and then looked at Timmy. "Well, Timmy, what do you want to do first?" She asked. Timmy chose the puzzle, and they spent a few hours putting it together. Then, they ate lunch. The sandwiches, chips, lemonade and cookies are all delicious. Timmy ate three whole cookies by himself. After lunch, they played outside with the car, and then when they got tired, they sat on the porch and rested. It was starting to get dark out. "I had a great day, Timmy," Grandma said. Timmy smiled. "Me too, Grandma. I love spending time with you!" Timmy thought it had been a perfect day, even if he couldn't bring his dog. What color was Timmy's toy car? A. Green B. Brown C. White D. Blue Answer: D Question: In the past, American families tended to be quite large. Parents raising five or more children were common. Over the years, the size of the family has decreased. One reason for this is an increase in the cost of living. On the average, children attend schools for more years than they used to, making them financially dependent on their families longer. Moreover, children nowadays are better dressed and have more money to spend on entertainment. The parents usually take the responsibility for all the expenses. Meanwhile, families are less close than they used to be. More and more American mothers work away from home. The break up of the family occurs when the parents divorce. A lot of children in the U. S. live part of their young lives with only one parent. Broken families usually result in problems for children and parents alike. Children blame themselves when their parents separate. They grow up feeling unsettled as they are moved back and forth between parents. Usually one parent is responsible for raising the children. These single parents must care for the children's emotional and psychological needs while also supporting them financially. This is very demanding and leaves very little time for the parent's own personal interests. Single parents often marry other single parents. In this type of family, unrelated children are forced to develop brother or sister relationship. The situations of many American families today are not good. However, recent signs indicate that things are getting better. The divorce rate is declining. The rate of childbirth is rising. Perhaps Americans have learned how important families are. In the past, American families tended to be _ . A. quite small B. medium sized C. quite large D. small Answer: C Question: Peter was a small boy. He lived with his parents in a small house near some hills .The people there were all poor .One night it was very dry and windy .When everybody was asleep,Peter suddenly heard some noise .It came out from the kitchen . He got up and walked to the kitchen .He found that the wood beside the stove was burning .There was no water tap in the house,so he could not put out the fire .He shouted loudly to wake up everyone in the house .Then he ran out of his house and knocked on the doors of many houses to wake the people up .They all left their houses quickly .At last the fire was put out by the firemen .Many houses were burnt .But nobody was hurt in the fire . Peter knocked on the doors of many houses _ . A. to wake the people up B. to get some water C. to find his classmates D. to visit them Answer: A
A small group of people around the world have started implanting microchips to link the body and the computer. Mr. Donelson and three friends, who had driven 100 miles from their homes in Loockport, New York, to have the implants put in by Dr. Jesse Villemaire, whom they had persuaded to do the work, are part of a small group, about 30 people around the world, who have independently put in microchips into their bodies, according to Web-based reports. At a shop William Donelson was having a four-millimeter-wide needle put into his left hand. "I'm set,"he said with a deep breath. He watched as the needle pierced the fleshy webbing between his thumb and a microchip was set under his skin. At last he would be able to do what he had long imagined: strengthen his body's powers through technology. By putting the chip inside--a radio frequency identification device (RFID)--Mr. Donelson would have at his fingertips the same magic that makes safety gates open with a knock of a card, and bridge and tunnel traffic flow smoothly with an E-Zpass. With a wave of his hand he plans to connect with his computer, open doors and unlock his car. Implanting the chip was relatively simple task but very meaningful to Mr. Doneselson, a 21-year-old computer networking student so interested in the link between technology and the body that he has data-input jacks inside his body. _ might lead to an imagined future when people can be connected directly into computers. His new chip is enclosed in a glass container no bigger than a piece of rice and has a small memory where he has stored the words "Technology". Some doctors have done the piercing in people's homes, and others have implanted chips in their offices after patients signed forms showing the fact that long-term studies have not been done on their safety. Piercers treat the implants much like any other medical operation steps, instructing people to keep the site dry, and advising them that swelling and redness should last a week. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? A High Tech, Under the Skin B A Needle, So Magic C Donelson, a Powerful Man D Data-input Jacks, Inside the Body Answer: A Who taught you to speak English? Your parents, while you were a child? Your teacher at school? Perhaps even the BBC as a grown-up. Whoever it was, somehow you have developed an understanding of what is rapidly becoming a truly global language. There are now about 376 million people who speak English as their first language, and about the same number who have learnt it in addition to their mother tongue. There are said to be one billion people learning English now and about 80% of the information on the Internet is in English. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? Should we celebrate the fact that more and more of us can communicate, using a common language, across countries and cultures? Or should we worry about the dangers of " mono-culturalism", a world in which we all speak the same language, eat the same food and listen to the same music? Does it matter if an increasing number of people speak the same language? I would have thought the other way around although I have never accepted the argument that if only we all understood each other better, there would be fewer wars. _ ... If we all speak English, will we then all start eating McDonalds burgers? Surely not. If English becomes more dominant , it will kill other languages? I doubt it. When I travel in Africa or Asia, I am always surprised by how many people can speak not only their own language but often one or more other related languages, as well as English and perhaps some French or German as well. When we discussed this on Talking Point a couple of years ago, we received a wonderfully poetic email from a listener in Ireland. "The English language is a beautiful language. Maybe it's like a rose," he said. "But who would ever want their garden just full of roses?" Well, I love roses, and I think they make a beautiful addition to any garden. But the way I see it, just by planting a few roses, you don't necessarily need to pull out everything else. If more and more people want to plant English roses, that's fine by me. The author would probably agree that _ . A it's very hard to plant many kinds of flowers in a garden B it's good for people from other countries to learn English C more and more people like to plant roses in their gardens D English is easier to learn than other languages Answer: B JAMES shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully counted the coins that lay on the bed. All that he had was $24.52 . The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! How on earth was he going to get the rest of the money? He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was hard to hang out with people when you were the only one without a bicycle. He thought about what he could do. There was no point asking his parents, for he knew they had no extra money. There was only one way to get money, and that was to earn it. He would have to find a job. He decided to ask Mr Clay for advice. "Well, you can start right here," said Mr Clay. "You see, my windows need cleaning and my car needs washing." That was the beginning of James' part-time job. For the next three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He took dogs for walks, cleared out cupboards and mended books. The day finally came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He wasted no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode home proudly, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard working for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more because he had bought it with his own money. He had achieved what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even more than the bicycle. How much money did James earn? A $24.52 B $90 C $94.32 D $69.80 Answer: D Children form opinions about drugs and alcohol at a very early age. Even four and five year olds have definite opinions about alcohol. Preschoolers, because of the commercials they see on TV, often think that alcohol helps people have more fun and be better athletes! Images of alcohol are everywhere in out society--consumption of alcohol is represented twice per hour in daytime shows, and three times in an average evening program. Despite the wide spread of alcohol in our society, and the problems that can be connected with it, many parents feel uncomfortable when talking about alcohol with their children, or are not sure when and how to start. Many parents believe that teenage drinking is something that their children would never be involved in. Unfortunately, teenage drinking is very common in North Dakota. In a state wide survey of adolescents in junior and senior high school. Only 24% claimed to have never consumed alcohol. When asked about their drinking in the past 30 days: 61% adolescents reported drinking 42% drank five or more drinks in a row 17% reported binge drinking 4.2% reported driving and drinking Other research on rural youth in North Dakota has found that about 10% of a sample of fifth and sixth graders were engaged in frequent drinking. Teenagers who reported alcohol use (especially those who began use in late elementary school and junior high school) were more likely to be depressed, feel less positive about both their family and friends, and have poorer grades. Research has found that children and even teenagers look to their parents in making decisions about important things in their life. Decisions about using alcohol are undoubtedly something that parents will want to provide guidance about. Here are some suggestions about talking to children about alcohol. Which of the following is a misguided idea? A Teenagers involved in drinking tend to have poorer grades. B Teenagers involved in drinking alcohol tend to be better athletes. C Teenagers reporting alcohol use are more likely to be depressed. D Teenagers reporting alcohol use feel less positive about their family. Answer: B A teacher honored her students by telling them how they each had made a difference to her and the class. She also presented each of them with a blue ribbon , which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference." Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what _ will do to people in general. She gave each student three more ribbons and instructed them to do the same to more people. One of the boys went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. Later that day the junior executive told his boss he deeply admired him for being a creative genius and asked if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon. The surprised boss accepted the gift delightedly. That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and told him about his day. "One of the junior executives gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody to honor," he said. "I thought about you. My days are busy and when I come home I don't pay much attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just-wanted to sit here and well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. You're a great kid and I love you!" The _ boy couldn't help crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, "I was planning on killing myself tomorrow, Dad, because I didn't think you loved me. Now I don't need to." It can be inferred from this story that _ . A a small ribbon can mean a lot to teenagers B parents should spend more time with their children C a simple encouragement can sometimes change one's life D a small action sometimes can lead to unexpected result Answer: D
For several years now, the dollar has fallen lower and lower against other major currencies. Lately, though, the dollar has risen, especially against the Japanese yen and the euro. Some traders think the dollar will continue to rise, but that is not clear. The dollar moved up this week after comments by American officials in support of a strong dollar policy. On Monday, before he left for his last trip as president to Europe, George Bush said: "A strong dollar is in our nation's interests. It is in the interests of the global economy." Also Monday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on CNBC television that he would consider intervention to keep the dollar from sliding further. The United States has not intervened in currency markets since two thousand. That year the administration of president Bill Clinton bought euros to support the European currency. But on Tuesday, President Bush said in Slovenia that the "relative value of economies will end up setting the proper valuation of the dollar." A weaker dollar helps American exporters. But it means Americans have to pay more for imports and for travel to other countries. Some experts say dollar weakness is the main reason why oil prices have risen so high. Oil is priced in dollars on the world market. But Treasury Secretary Paulson dismissed any link. He noted that since two thousand two, the dollar has fallen about twenty-four percent. But the price of oil has gone up well over five hundred percent. Adding to pressure on the dollar, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet suggested that the E.C.B will raise interest rates next month. European officials are increasingly concerned with inflation. But investors can already get higher rates of return on investments in euros than in dollars. High prices for oil, food and other products have raised inflation concerns worldwide. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the latest increases in energy prices have added to inflation risks. His comments in recent days have suggested that the central bank could stop cutting rates as it has since September. Its rate for overnight loans between banks is currently at two percent. Some market watchers think the Fed could raise rates as early as this month. Finance ministers from nations in the Group of Eight will discuss the dollar and other issues at their meeting this weekend in Osaka, Japan. Which of the following statements is true? Answer: Many measures have taken to stop dollars from falling further.. A good way to pass an examination is to work hard every day in the year. You may fail in an examination if you are lazy for most of the year and then work hard only a few days before the examination. If you are taking an English examination, do not only learn rules of grammar. Try to read stories in English and speak English whenever you can. A few days before the examination you should start going to bed early. Do not stay up late at night studying and learning things. Before you start the examination, read the question paper over carefully. Try to understand the exact meaning of each question before you pick up your pen to write. When you have at last finished your examination, read your answers over. Correct the mistakes if there are any and make sure that you have not _ anything _ . If you want to improve your English, you must _ . Answer: practise it as often as possible Peter and I are good friends. Peter is an American boy. I am a Japanese girl. He is thirteen. I am twelve. We are in the same class,Class Two. Peter has a nice clock. He likes it very much. He puts it on his desk. Every morning it wakes him up . I have a new watch. It looks beautiful. I wear it every day. It tells me the time. Peter and I are _ . Answer: friends Which list contains only things that are part of our solar system? Answer: planets, moons, comets A student wants to look under a heavy rock. Which simple machine would be BEST to use to lift the rock? Answer: Lever
Limit the use of private cars, improve public transport and encourage the use of bicycles to control traffic congestion during the 2008 Olympics, experts from foreign countries advised Beijing on Friday. Professor Nigel Wilson, of the civil and environmental engineering department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he was "supportive to the limiting of private cars during the Olympic Games", saying that in foreign countries, the method is also adopted during big events, but he was unsure about the approach. The government planned to keep an average of more than one million cars off the roads to improve traffic flow during the Olympics, said Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the Beijing Traffic Committee, at the China Planning Network First Urban Transportation Congress. Sharing Wilson's view, Dr. Yoshitsugu Hayashi, dean of the Graduate School of Environmental Studies of Nagoya University, believed the reduction in car use should be achieved not by banning, but through _ . "Drivers who don't use their private cars could be given points," he said, "and the points could be exchanged for goods from online shopping." Wetzel stressed limiting the use of company cars. "Governmental officials should also be encouraged to use public transportation or ride bicycles," he said, adding that he himself is a bicycle-rider in London. Matthew Martimo, director of Traffic Engineering with Citilabs, said the bicycle was China's advantage. "Limiting private cars is an idea worth trying but it is just a temporary solution," he said. "The real cause of congestion is high density of people in Beijing and many have cars." Beijing, with a population of 15 million, is home to more than three million automobiles, and the number is rising by 1,000 a day. Professor Wilson said the Olympic Games was a great opportunity for Beijing to think about traffic problems and develop transportation, adding that the city had already been making public transport more efficient. Beijing has promised to stretch its 114-kilometer city railway to 200 kilometers before the opening of the Olympic Games. "We are looking forward to borrowing Beijing's experiences and drawing from its lessons in preparation for the 2012 Olympics," said Wetzel. Which of the following may be the reason for the traffic congestion in Beijing? The large population in Beijing and the large number of cars. Move Earth--it's no science fiction LONDON--Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system. This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet--effectively doubling its working life. The plan put forward by Dr Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams is designed to carefully direct a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth. "Earth's orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun," Laughlin said. Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated. In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so "seriously _ " our biosphere by cooking us. That's why the group decided to try to save Earth. The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation in orbit could fire it straight at Earth--with deadly consequences. There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position, it is "most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth," it states. This would greatly change our planet's climate. What makes the scientists plan to move Earth? Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive. Anne is thirteen years old. She has long hair and black eyes. She is tall. She is a student at Beijing Sunshine Secondary School. She loves listening to music and dancing. She studies hard. She does well in English. But she doesn't like doing sports. Anne has a cousin. His name is Daniel. He is tall and he has short black hair. He is a student at Beijing Sunshine Secondary School,too. He and Anne are in the same class. He isn't good at English,but he does well in Maths. He doesn't like listening to music. He likes playing basketball. His favourite basketball player is Michael Jordan. He thinks Jordan plays basketball very well. He says he wants to be a basketball player like Michael Jordan some day. Anne's hair is _ . long These are tough times for the charities, many of which will be experiencing lower levels of donations -- so if you can support them please do. HIPPO HIPPO is dedicated to relieving poverty and overcoming hunger and malnutrition in poor countries through the provision and production of vegan food. They help vegan orphanages and some of the poorest families in the community, and encourage and assist the development of sustainable agriculture and gardening. Plants for a Future Plants for a Future(a project based in Cornwall)researches perennial , eatable and useful plants for sustainable agriculture / living. Their achievements include the creation of an online database of 7,000 plants. Respect for Animals Respect for Animals campaigns against the fur trade. They run the annual Design Against Fur competition and were responsible for the anti-fur advertising campaign of the 80's. Vegan-Organic Trust The Vegan-Organic Trust is a charity "devoted to education about animal-free food growing". They produce a regular magazine and provide information for both large- and small-scale growers. Vega Research Vega Research campaigns on farming and human health issues. Sponsors research into vegan nutrition and the links between diet and health. Which of the following campaigns against animal products? Vegan-Organic Trust Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables : language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions. To deal with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience. The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment lie in the fact that one cannot learn culture--one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural differences. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald's. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from disappearing. The other school suggests that companies must adjust business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness. Fortuneexamined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your rivals, know your audience, and know your customer. According to the author, the model of Pepsi _ . is different from the model of McDonald's .
Summer Camp Contact Kitty 6219-7830 Are you looking for a place where you can enjoy Chinese study and experience Chinese culture during the summer holiday? Hua Mandarin could be your wise choice. The new summer camp will start on July 28th and end on August 18th. We provide very small groups with 2-4 people for you to learn Chinese in an effective way. Activities including calligraphy , painting, culture show, Chinese movies, kung fu, swimming, and so on will help you walk into Chinese culture with fun. Welcome to call at 62197830 * Kitty for more details. Comments The earlier camp finished last week. Students are happy here, although they have to learn a lot upon parents' request . Teachers here are trying to help children to learn in a funny way. Please sign in to add a comment. . . The new summer camp mainly gives children a chance to enjoy _ . A Chinese movies B some paintings C Chinese culture D some sports Answer: C. Chinese culture It's something familiar to all parents of young children: you're in a busy shopping street and your child wants to pee and he just can't hold it any longer. But two parents' decision to let their child relieve himself has caused much attention in China. By now, it seems, the whole Chinese Internet is familiar with what happened on a crowded Hong Kong shopping street. A mother holds a nappy while her two-year-old pees. A passerby took pictures which then were put online. The woman explained that they had found a public toilet but saw there was a long queue, so she had no other choice but to let their child to relieve himself on the street instead. Why has this one child's act caused so much upset? Allowing a child under 12 to " _ in any public street" is against the law in Hong Kong and the parents will face a 2,000 Hong Kong Dollar ($250) fine . But the on-line chatter has put all the attention on the fact that this family were tourists from mainland China, rather than being locals. "For Hong Kongers, people might think from time to time that mainlanders are not so polite and often break the public rules," says Martin Yip of BBC. Charmaine Chui, who was born in Hong Kong, told BBC she feels angry to have seen mainland tourists peeing in shopping centers and restaurants. "Hong Kong is a beautiful, modern city. What do these people think of it?" she says. In mainland China, there has also been criticism of the parents' behavior. But most of the people say they find the parents' behavior understandable as they had tried to find a toilet for their child and the mother used a paper nappy rather than simply allowing the baby to pee on the ground. The child peed _ in HK. A on a crowded shopping street B in a public toilet C at home D in a restaurant Answer: A. on a crowded shopping street As soon as I saw her, I understood I was in trouble. The tiny 10-year-old girl was staring at me with that specific facial expression which probably only dentists have to enjoy all day long! Whatever question I asked, whatever activity I suggested, her reaction was pretty much the same -- she was frozen with horror. She was sent to our private language school after having been the worst in English at her key school with a pretty strict ELT syllabus , with her peers teasing her for her mistakes in English. Moreover, her state school teacher called her name. To make things worse, she was under pressure from her family for getting bad marks in English. She was definitely expecting me to carry on the same way with her. I have to admit that I had been staring at her with probably the same expression for a while before eventually she handed in an absolutely incredible composition which I had previously asked the class to write. It was written in perfect handwriting, was full of clever ideas and had correct paragraphing. The girl got her first excellent mark in English, and I praised her generously and from then on I started using her writing skills to support the others. Before doing an oral retelling of a story, she wrote it down. Before presenting her oral project, she was allowed to do the same thing. The day she first put up her hand to orally answer my question addressed to the class I was incredibly happy. She taught me how to approach withdrawn students -- find the skill which they can excel at, in her case writing, and help the student use it to develop other skills! The writer is probably a teacher _ . A in a language training center B in a private language school C in a state school D in a key public school Answer: B. in a private language school In Western society, especially in the English-speaking world, the chance for young people to see the other countries and experience life is considered important. Many young people, when they finish school at the age of 18, take a gap year before they go to university. Parents often want their children to grow up a little and see what the real world is like when they finish school. Although they are worried about their safety, many think that the advantages of independence and experience are worth the worries. Children are encouraged to be brave, independent and to explore the world on their own or with friends. Young people also want to experience freedom and see what life is like on the other side. This other side could be the other side of the world or just the other side of life. For example, if they have a rich life, they may want to see how people in poor areas live. A gap year after school is also an important chance for young people to spend time thinking about what they want to do with their lives. A little bit of growing up and experience will help them make their important career decisions, especially when they are unsure about what they want to study. Another reason for going straight after school is to get a break from studying before they start the next few years of university. So anywhere you travel in the world, you will meet young European people exploring the world. So much of the world has been travelled and explored. The young people are now looking for more worthy experiences. Some of them work as volunteers to do something for the country they are visiting. Many gap year volunteers are now spending a few months teaching English in Thailand, helping feed giant pandas in China or building a well in a village in Africa. These young people's wish to explore the world is an expression of the values of the societies that they are part of. Both discovering the world and making a positive difference in it are important parts of the Western mind. The purpose of writing this article is to _ . A show different opinions about gap year B offer readers information about gap year C discover new ways to take a gap year D tell young people when to take a gap year Answer: B. offer readers information about gap year Every night, N-Dia Layne would set the alarm clock on her mother's cellphone for 4:45a.m. If the two of them were not on the subway platform at 103rdStreet and Broadway by 6:20 a. m., there was no way N-Dia would be on time for school. Even so, N-Dia was often late. By the end of October, she was just one lateness away from the six allowed a student for the entire term. Ms. Layne and N-Dia, 9, live at the Regent Family Residence for the Homeless. They moved here last summer from their original family shelter in Brownsville, Brooklyin. On a recent schoolday, N-Dia waited on the subway station at East 103rdStreet. N-Dia and her mother boarded the No. 1 train, and then changed to the No. 3 at 96thStreet. After 96thStreet, N-Dia napped on her mother's shoulder when Ms. Layne was listening to music. N-Dia often does her homework on the ride home. A few stops before Sutter Avenue, where N-Dia's school is, Ms. Layne woke her up. Then she hurried her daughter to school before the first bell. "It's unfair, and it makes me feel upset," N-Dia said. "I don't want her to grow up and have to go through what I went through," said Ms. Layne, who transferred to different schools many times. "It affected my grade greatly." In N-Dia's case, the efforts to keep her at her charter school, which received a C on its last city progress report, failed. It was agreed that N-Dia should attend school closer to the shelter. " I cried during the meeting," Ms. Layne said. "I really wanted to keep her in that school where she had some type of stability." What made Ms. Layne cry? A N-Dia had to move to a school near her house B N-Dia had to move to a shelter near her school C N-Dia made no progress D N-Dia felt too tired. Answer: A. N-Dia had to move to a school near her house
Job Chances in Top Schools Throughout China Interested in teaching in a foreign country? Schools all over China are looking for skilled teachers interested in teaching English. There are chances all over the country. Apply today! Necessary conditions Native speaker of English BA Degree or higher (English and Education major preferred) Teaching experience is preferred, but not required. Must be a citizen of one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, the United States, or the United Kingdom. Pay to be offered From $1,800 to $2,300 a month depending on conditions and experience Pays differ depending on schools. Benefits differ between employers, but the following benefits must be offered: FREE apartment with furniture Overtime pay 10---14 days paid vacation Medical insurance---generally half provided Round-trip ticket How to apply To apply, only send us the following information: Resume/Date of Birth/Recent picture Once we receive your information, we will get you into our job matching lists, when a match is recorded, we will get in touch with you for an interview. Click on the following apply. Now button to offer your resume and required documentation. Any questions send us an e-mail at primejobs@teachers.com. One who gets the job will teach _ .[ Answer: Who Owns the Moon? Within the next ten years, the U. S., China, Israel, and a crowd of private companies plan to set up camp on the moon. So if and when they plant a flag, does _ give them property rights? A NASA working group hosted a discussion this week to ask: Who owns the moon? The answer, of course, is no use. The Outer Space Treaty, the international signed by more than 100 countries, states that the moon and other celestial bodies are the province of all mankind. No doubt that would annoy all of the people throughout the ages, like monks from the Middle Ages, who have tried to claim the moon was theirs. But ownership is different from property rights. People who rent apartments, for example, don't own where they live, but they still hold rights. So with all of the upcoming missions to visit the moon and beyond, space industry thought leaders are seriously asking themselves how to deal with a potential land rush. " This is a very relevant discussion right now. We've got this wave of new lunar missions from around the world," said William Marshall, a scientist in the small-spacecraft office at NASA, but who spoke this week at an event hosted by NASA's Co Lab, a collaborative public-private working group. He was speaking from his personal interest and not on behalf of the agency. To be sure, the United States aims to send astronauts back to the moon by as early as 2015, in a mission that would include a long-term settlement. China and Israel, among others, are also working on lunar projects. And for the first time, several private groups are building spacecraft to land on the moon in an attempt to win millions of dollars in the Google Lunar X Prize. Some participants say that they plan to gain some property rights in the mission. We can infer from the passage that _ . Answer: John is a very strong man. He gets a job of cutting trees in a forest. His boss gives him an axe and showed him the area where he should work. The first day, John cuts down 18 trees. "Good," the boss says, "keep it up!" happily, John tries harder the next day, but he only cuts down 15 trees. The third day he tries even harder, but he can only cut down 10 trees. Day after day he cuts down fewer and fewer trees. "I must be losing my strength ," John thinks. He goes to the boss to say sorry and says that he can not know what is going on. "When is the last time you sharpen your axe?" the boss asks. "I'm busy cutting trees, so I have no time to do _ . " The moral of this story: While John is working hard, he doesn't work "smart". He doesn't think about the best way to do his job. What does the boss think of John the first day? Answer: Nowadays, many children spend hours a day looking at computer screens or other digital products. Some eye care doctors say all the screen time has caused more children to have what they call computer vision syndrome . Nathan Warford is an optometrist in the US. He says he has seen more children having eye problems. "More children come into my office because their parents have noticed that they have headaches or red eyes, or because their degree of short-sightedness appears to be increasing very fast and they're worried," he said. Dr. Warford says part of the problem is that even if their eyes start to feel uncomfortable or they start to get a headache, some children don't tell their parents, because they don't want their games or the computer to be taken away. Another part of the problem is that people blink less often when they look at the screen.A person who uses a computer or a digital product blinks about a third as much as we normally do in everyday life. If eyes can't stay wet or are too tired, they will not be protected like normal. What is the passage mainly about? Answer: If your job requires a lot of sitting, you could be putting your health at danger. The American Journal of Epidemiology did a study in 2010 on the correlation between sitting and an individual's physical health. In the study, 53,440 working men and 69,776 working women were surveyed on their time spent sitting. The subjects were all disease free when employed. The researchers identified 11,307 deaths in men and 7,923 deaths in women during the 14-year follow-up. The findings: Women who reported sitting for more than six hours per day had an approximately 40 higher all-cause death rate than those who reported less than three hours a day, and men had an approximately 20 higher death rate. Well, now's a fine time to get this information. But why didn't they tell me this years ago? I would have planned on taking a more active job instead of the sedentary job of an editor. So what can you do if you have to work for a living at a job that requires a lot of sitting? Here are some ideas: Take frequent breaks. It is recommended that workers vary activities, change their position, and take short breaks every 20 minutes to rest muscles and increase blood circulation. Get a standing desk. Some studies have shown that working from an upright position may be better for health. The serious fitness people can even purchase a treadmill desk. It only goes about one mile per hour. Have a walking meeting. If your group is kind of small, going for a walk while discussing topics is a good alternative. According to the text, the study in 2010 _ . Answer:
TOKYO, Japan (AP) - Japan is very serious about robotics . If the droids are going to fit in, they probably need to learn the Japanese custom of serving tea. Fortunately, researchers at the University of Tokyo are exploring just that. In a show this week, a humanoid with camera eyes made by Kawada Industries Inc. poured tea from a bottle into a cup. Then another robot on wheels delivered the cup of tea in an experimental room that has sensors _ in the floor and sofa as well as cameras on the ceiling, to simulate life with robot technology. "A human being may be faster, but you'd have to say 'Thank you,'" said University of Tokyo professor Tomomasa Sato. "That's the best part about a robot. You don't have to feel bad about asking it to do things." Sato believes Japan, a rapidly aging society where more than a fifth of the population is 65 or older, will lead the world in designing robots to care for the elderly, sick and bedridden . Already, monitoring technologies, such as sensors that automatically turn on lights when people enter a room, are becoming widespread in Japan. The walking, child-size Asimo from Honda Motor Co. greets people at showrooms. NEC Corp. has developed a smaller companion robot-on -wheels called Papero. A seal robot available since 2004 can entertain the elderly and others in need of fuzzy companionship. Sato says his experimental room is raising awareness about privacy questions that may arise when electronic devices monitor a person's movements down to the smallest detail. On the bright side, the tea - pouring humanoid has been programmed to do the dishes. We can infer from the passage that _ . Answer: Humans have long been interested greatly in the idea of being able to walk on water. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever realizing this dream without artificial aid--we simply weigh too much, and all our weight pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink. However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicus basilicus, a lizard native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several meters, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will reach a speed of 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans, we would need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create enough "hitting". But fortunately there is an alternative: cornflour . By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a lot), you can create a special mixture that doesn't behave like normal water. Now, if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles in the water get together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of this adequately thick liquid of cornflour. Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice. If you must do it, then keep the water wings ready in case you start to sink--and take a bath afterward! What is the function of the cornflour according to the passage? Answer: One important attraction of walking is its long-lasting appeal. Whereas jogging and aerobic dancing can _ quickly, walking provides a popular activity that seems to endure. Fitness foundations estimate that 35 million adult Americans walk for exercise every day, with at least 15 million walking two or three times a week. Among the most regular walkers are those 65 years and older--evidence that walking is an exercise that lasts. In addition to its many physical benefits, walking, like other physical activities, has a comforting effect on the psyche. Walking can help you to think more clearly and feel more relaxed. It also can be a sociable activity. An early morning walk around the neighborhood provides an opportunity to chat with friends or simply admire the flowers. Or because it does not require a team or even a partner, walking is something you can do on your own time, by yourself, whenever the mood strikes. Easily affordable, all you need to start walking is enthusiasm and a pair of comfortable and sturdy low-heeled shoes. Dr.ChristineL. Wells recommends an Oxford-style shoe with ties for better foot support; she does not recommend sneakers or other "cheapies". If you plan to walk regularly, you might want to invest in a pair of so-called walking shoes. If so, expect to spend at least $35. For walking during the hotter months, early morning or evening hours are best. Clothes should fit loosely and be lightweight and light-colored. Elderly walkers should consider wearing long sleeves, and all Arizonans need to be particularly concerned about skin cancer. Dr. Wells suggests wearing sunscreen as well as a side-brimmed hat to protect your eyes, ears, nose and back of the neck. Walkers also should drink an adequate amount of water. Wells advises drinking an 8-ounce glass of water before you start out, and more when you return. "If you walk four miles or more a day in Arizona, I also recommend that you carry a water bottle," she says. " And water is just fine; you don't need those fluid-replacement or electrolyte drinks." Which word best describes the author's attitude toward walking? Answer: A common characteristic of all living things is that they Answer: A threatening telephone call that purports to be from Defendant to Witness is most likely to be admitted against Defendant if Answer:
Spoiled for choice? That's likely how you'll feel after a mere day in Athens. The secret is in not trying to do everything. Instead, take in a couple of the tourist highlights and then get a feel for this attractive capital. An ancient sight The Acropolis always comes out at the top of the list of things to see in Athens. The most famous of the western world's ancient sights continue to impress tourists as they climb the marble steps and stand before the graceful Parthenon. Views from up here are amazing. A slow wander Plaka is the city's oldest neighborhood, resting on the slopes of the Acropolis with cafs and fascinating architecture. The streets are perfect for getting lost in, giving wanderers the chance to discover cafs and bars where they can down some strong coffee among locals. Plaka is at its best in the early evening. Acropolis House Pension is a preserved 19thcentury house that gives guests a glimpse into a Greek home. A market scene Varvakios Agora is Athens' central market. Locals come here to shop and look for everything needed in a Greek kitchen -- from olive oil to meat. This is a look at local life as well as a window into Greek cuisine. The meat market is also home to some of the city's best pubs, feeding traditional food to crowds of customers from all walks of society. A splash of nightlife Athenian nights are filled with music, dancing and dining. Perivoli Tou Ouranou is a club with a strong atmosphere. Filled with the sounds of violins and guitars pelting out traditional blueslike music, it's sad but also beautiful and lively. If you want to get a feel for traditional Greek music, you can go to _ . A Parthenon B Plaka C Varvakios Agora D Perivoli Tou Ouranou Answer: D The rise in smartphones among young people may be having a direct effect on how successful they become as adults. Research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has discovered the average university student checks their phones 11 times per lesson, and more than 80 percent believe this tech addiction is interfering with their learning. A quarter of students across five U.S states also blamed poor grades in exams specifically on the fact they used mobile devices when they should have been concentrating and revising - and these grades could determine the jobs they end up going into. Barney McCoy, an associate professor of broadcasting at the university, surveyed 777 students at six universities across five states about how they used digital devices in the classroom. The students were from UNL and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Nebraska, Morningside College in Iowa, the University of North Carolina, the University of Kansas and the University of Mississippi. Around two thirds said they used phones, tablets and laptops for "non-classroom purposes" up to ten times during a typical university day, while 15 percent admitted this figure was closer to 30 times. Among the top reasons why students checked their devices so regularly were staying connected and fighting boredom, at 55 percent. Less than half said the devices were used for classwork. Texting was the most popular distraction technique at 86 percent, while 68 percent said they used their phones to check personal emails. Two thirds used social networks, 38 percent surfed the web and eight percent admitted to playing games when they should have been studying. Despite eight out of ten students admitting their devices were distracting, fewer than five percent considered it to be a "very big" distraction. "I don't think students necessarily think it's a big problem," said McCoy said. "They think it's part of their lives." "It's become automatic behavior on the part of so many people - they do it without even thinking about it." He continued, "They've got their laptops open, but they're not always taking notes. Some might have two screens open -- Facebook and their notes." _ was the most popular form of distraction. A Texting B playing games C surfing the web D Checking personal emails Answer: A Twice in the past few days, I've witnessed families arguing to the point of having major 'falling outs' (when you get so angry with each other that there is threat of withdrawing love from a family member and/or abandoning the relationship). Last night, one of those situations occurred and a friend contacted me on QQ and asked my advice. Their situation arose where a son-in-law had disagreements with his wife and then got into a quarrel with his mother-in-law and father-in-law. In the end, the son-in-law threatened to cut off all relationship with his in laws and also to deny his in laws a relationship with his own daughter, their granddaughter. Not only did the son-in-law threaten his wife's parents, but he has followed through with his threat and hasn't allowed his wife or his child to have any contact with his wife's parents in almost a year. The first question my friend asked me was, "Michael, what do you do when you get into a quarrel with your family?" I said, "I don't know." They said, "Well what about when you quarrel with your mother or one of your siblings (brother or sister)?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "Well, what would you do if you got into an argument with your in laws when you were married?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "What do you mean that you don't know?" I said, "Well, I never got into a quarrel with my in-laws, my mother or my siblings." He said, "Be serious, Michael. I need some help with this situation." I said, "I am serious. I never quarreled with mother, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law or brother-in-law. At least not in my adult life (since I turned 18 years old)." My friend found it hard to believe that I never did any of these things. I suppose (I really don't know; Ha!) that many people wouldn't believe that an entire family could maintain a such a level of peace, harmony, respect and love. The truth is, my family doesn't do those things. You may wonder 'why' we don't do that. Well, I never really thought about 'why' we don't do that. But I do know, we don't. So, I did the most logical thing I could think of. I asked my mother 'why' we don't quarrel, argue, fight and have such situations. Some people believe that if you don't argue, quarrel and fight, then, you don't care enough. I would say that my family cares very deeply for each other and love each other and express our love to each other, very often. We don't believe that you have to quarrel, argue and fight in order to show that you care and that you love the other. Instead, we show that we love, care and respect each other by, well, loving, caring and respecting each other. How many questions did the friend ask the writer? A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 Answer: C According to the American Automobile(car)Association, since 1964 all cars sold in the United States have been equipped with seat belts (They are also called safety belts) Many studies of car accidents have shown that safety belts can save lives. One study showed that forty percent of those killed in car accidents could have been saved if they have been wearing seat belts. Unfortunately seat belts are worn only by a small number of drivers and passengers _ about fifteen percent in cities and only nine percent in small towns. And safety belt can not protect people who do not wear them. In order to find out what kinds of people do wear seat belts, a study was made in several cities in of the United States. The following facts were learned about those who use their safety belts. 1. They do not smoke while driving. 2. They had more education than less educated people 3. They know some one who was hurt(but not killed) in an accident Advertisements based on these facts have been printed in newspapers and magazines in order to teach people the importance of using seat belt. But these advertisements have not helped much. Some people believe there should be a law ordering drivers and passengers to use safety belts. In Australia, where there is such a law, death in car accidents have reduced to twenty-four percent. Which of the following sentences is NOT true? A More drivers in the country wear seat belts. B More educated people in the United States wear seat belts. C Much has been done to advise drivers to wear safety belts. D About three-twentieths of the drivers wear seat belts. Answer: A Televisions were among the most talked about items at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some employed the most advanced technology ever. Some of the TVs used a new technology called Organic Light Emitting Diodes, or OLED. They were thinner, lighter, offered better color1 and were brighter than traditional LEDs. Smart TVs this year were smarter. Many offered technology that let users have a more personalized experience. One such TV from the electronics company TCL uses sensors and voice recognition to determine who is watching. It then offers programming based on the specific user. Another TV from Panasonic offers a similar personalized user experience. In addition to television technology, size also played a major part in CES 2013. Televisions varied in size from big to bigger, with at least two companies -- Samsung and HiSense -- exhibiting TVs measuring 110 inches. The yearly Consumer Electronics Show is the biggest technology trade show in North America and one of the biggest in the world. Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, the group that organizes CES. He gave one of the keynote speeches on opening day. "Now you know that CES is more than a trade show. It's a gathering of the brightest minds and the top leaders from many industries and those seeking a glimpse into the future." That glimpse into the future included a look at digital health and fitness devices, which were also big at CES 2013. There were devices that track your activity and others that measure blood pressure, heart rate and weight. There was even a fork that tells you when you are eating too fast. Cars, smart-phones, tablet computers and PCs also made news. And a 27-inch table computer drew quite a bit of attention. CEA President Gary Shapiro says there was much to see but not nearly enough time to see it all. "You cannot see the show in the four days that you have. We have over 3200 different industries showing over 20,000 new products. It's ly incredible." What can we know from Gary Shapiro? A CES is only a big trade show. B CES offers a glimpse into the future. C CES lasts only four days in all. D He thinks little of the new products' quality. Answer: B
Come and see the Indian elephants and new tigers from America. The bears are waiting to meet you, and the monkeys from china are waiting to throw things at you. The lovely dogs from Australia are waiting to laugh at you. The giraffes from Zambia are waiting to look down on you. Tickets Adults :$2.00 Children : Over 12: $1.00 Under12: Free Opening time 9:00 am- 4:00pm(from Saturday to Thursday) 10:00am-3:00pm (Friday) Keep the zoo clean! Don`t touch , give food or go near the animals. We can _ in the zoo. take a few nice photos Why is it winter in North America when it is summer in South America? North America receives less direct sunlight during the winter. Not willing to pay $400 for a basic room or upwards of $1,200 for a suite at a luxury hotel? We hear you. In the past, this meant having to put up with cheap hotels. Essentially, you got what you paid for. But all that's changed, as mid-level hotels have begun competing for a population that travels more then ever. Even in New York and San Francisco --- two of the most expensive cities in the country --- one can find comfortable, affordable options with much modern conveniences. We searched the country for the best hotels under $150. Hotel 340 St. Paul, Minnesota, USA This twelve-storey English-renaissance building once served as a downtown clubhouse for St. Paul's outstanding people; today, the repaired structure houses the hotel on the top three floors. Its 35 rooms stand out for hardwood floors, marble showers and nice views of the Mississippi River, and room comforts include iPod docks , free local and national telephone calls and coffee makers. The University Club of St. Paul, a grand hall bar, and an all-new-60,000-square-foot fitness center(free for guests)also share space in the building. Marina Inn San Francisco, California, USA Located in the Marina district, where the streets are lined with luxury stores and great restaurants, the Marina Inn is the ideal place for business or pleasure. Few destinations offer the quality and variety of environment, scenery, entertainment, accommodation, and dining that waits for you here at the Marina Inn. It's a ten-minute walk to Fisherman's Wharf and there are abundant bus connections to take you anywhere in the city. Hotel Havana San Antonio, Texas, USA When one thinks of his historic Texas town, usually the southwest comes to mind. So does Mexico. Since 1914, the hotel has served passers-by. The 27 rooms come in all shapes and sizes, many of which include Turkish carpets and elegant Cuban art on the walls. Bathrooms are distinguished with Red Flower body care products. When you couldn't afford a luxury hotel in the past, _ . you had to stay in a low-grade hotel How to Memorize Things Quicker Than Other People? The following is my advice for you. Step 1: Preparation To improve your memorization, pay close attention to which environment you choose. For most people, this means choosing an area with few distractions, though some people do advance greatly by learning in public areas. Figure out what is most conducive to your learning so that you can get started. Next, start drinking some tea. I could link you to many scientific studies that confirm green tea as a natural catalyst for improving memory. Mechanically speaking, our ability to recall information comes down to the strength between neurons in our mind. The more you exercise the repetition, the stronger it is, resulting in the ability to memorize. As we get older, poisonous chemicals will damage our neurons, leading to memory loss. Green tea contains compounds, however, that block this poison and keep your brain cells working properly a lot longer. Step 2: Record what you're memorizing This is especially useful if you're trying to memorize information from a lecture. Use a tape recorder to track all of the acquired facts being spoken and listen to it. If you're trying to memorize a speech, record your reading of the speech and listen to the record. Obviously, this is most helpful for auditory learners, and it's also useful because it ensures that you're getting more context from a lecture that will help you learn the information faster. Step 3: Write everything down Before you start trying to recall everything from memory, write and re-write the information. This will help you become more familiar with what you're trying to memorize. Doing this while listening to your tape recorder can also help you keep a lot of the data. This is most useful for experiential learners. Step 4: Section your notes. Now that you have everything written down in one set of notes, separate them into sections. This is ideal for visual learners, especially if you use color1 coding to distinguish between subjects. This will help you break everything down and start classing the information being recorded in your brain. Step 5: Apply repetition to cumulative memorization For each line of text, repeat it a few times and try to recall it without looking. As you memorize each set of text, be cumulative by adding the new information to what you've just learned. This will keep everything within your short-term memory from fading. Keep doing this until you have memorized that section and you are able to recall the entire thing. Do not move on to another section until you have memorized that one completely. This is mostly visual learning, but if you are speaking aloud, then you are also applying auditory. Step 6: Teach it to someone (or yourself) The most effective method for me when I was in school was to teach the information to someone else. You can do this in a variety of ways. You can lecture the knowledge to someone sitting right in front of you (or the mirror, if you can't convince anyone to sit through it) and explain everything from your memory. If what you've learned needs to be recited word by word, then do this in front of someone as well in order to get a feel for what it will be like to recite the text to the intended audience. Step 6 implies that the author _ . learned by heart by teaching Our magazine is presenting to you the top four iPhone (the best seller of Apple Company) applications for more fun on hiking or camping trips recommended by our A-list field hikers and travelers. 1. GPS Kit by Garafa--Never get lost (for $10.) What it does: Download before you leave or use your phone's data connection to view maps from Google (satellite, landscape, cycling, and street), or Bing (shaded relief, street, or image). Record your movements, drop notes or photo makers on previously downloaded Google Earth. 2. Photosynth by Microsoft--Perfect the view (for free!) What it does: Make 360degx360degpanoramas to your own taste. It saves the panorama as a single image to your camera roll after combining images. Once you get to know how to hold the iPhone and move to take the photos, you can have pretty simple, fast panoramas! 3. Soundcloud by Soundcloud--Share the sounds (for free!) What it does: Basic sound recorder with on-board editing (cutting) capabilities. Upload your recordings to the Internet, share on social networks and listen to and follow others! It allows for super-simple recording and uploading to the Internet. You can upload all the sounds as "non-shared" files, so you can download them to your computer for continued storage and editing. In addition, with _ , you will never fear your dirty laundries are to put you to shame. There is a growing community of users, including Paul Salopek who is walking around the world. 4. Postagram by Sincerely--Send moments (application is free! /$1 per card.) What it does: The application allows personalized production of e-postcards right from your iPhone. There aren't many post offices out in the mountains, so this can be critical to send a gift home. And even if there are post offices where you are traveling, sometimes it's easier, cheaper and more fun to send your own DIY messages home. Where can the reader most probably read the text? In a travel magazine.
The phrase "live, love and laugh" was one my cousin Roger lived by every day of his life. Even in his sickness, he found the positive in what some would see as a negative situation. He enjoyed life. He loved to laugh and most importantly, he lived life to the absolute fullest. He loved to travel, learning new things about different people and their culture. Roger was born and raised in Alabama, and he then moved to Buffalo, New York where he lived for many, many years until he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, his final resting place. Whether his travels were long visits or short visits, large cities or small towns, his favorite souvenir item was T-shirt. Everywhere he went he would buy a T-shirt to remind him of his travels. Every T-shirt he owned had a story behind it that he would share with others. As long as he was laughing, living and traveling, he was happy. He loved everybody he came in contact with and everybody loved him. The old saying, "He never met a stranger", definitely applied to Roger and his life. His last few years of life were in and out of the hospital at least 10~15 days a month, sometimes more. Two weeks before he passed away, I spoke with him on the phone, and even then he managed to tell jokes about life. I know he left this world happily; he refused to allow anything or anyone to hold him down, even his severe illnesses. He was definitely a model to look up when it comes to not allowing any situation to keep you from moving forward in life. I will forever miss his smile and his love for life. My cousin Roger knew the true meaning of the phrase "live, love and laugh". What the author's purpose in writing this passage? In recent years, there has been a steady attack on salt from the doctors: salt is bad for you--regardless of your health. Politicians also got aboard. "There is a direct relationship," US Congressman Neal Smith said, "between the amount of sodium a person consumes and heart disease, circulatory disorders, stroke and even early death." Frightening, if true! But many doctors and medical researchers are now beginning to feel the salt scare has gone too far. "All these remarks and cry about salt is unnecessary," Dr. Dustan insists. "For most of us it probably does not make much difference how much salt we eat." Dustan's most recent short-term study of 150 people showed that those with normal blood pressure experienced no change at all when placed on an extremely low-salt diet, or later when salt was reintroduced. Of the hypertensive patients, however, half of those on the low-salt diet did experience a drop in blood pressure, which returned to previous level when salt was reintroduced. "An adequate to somewhat excessive salt intake has probably saved many more lives than it has cost in the general population," said Dr. John H Laragh. "So an opinion that the whole population should avoid salt makes no sense." Medical experts agree that everyone should practice reasonable "moderation" in salt consumption. For the average person, a moderate amount might run from four to ten grams a day, or roughly 1/2 to 1/3 teaspoons. One to two grams of salt would come from the natural sodium in food. The rest would be added in processing, preparation or at the table. "Na is not your enemy," says Comek's Dr. Laragh. "Salt is the No.1 natural component of all human tissue, and the idea that you do not need it is wrong. Unless your doctor has proven that you have a salt-related health problem, there is no reason to give it up." Why is salt attacked by doctors and politicians? My father passed away in a nursing home on a September day. I never remembered him telling me he loved me. Upon hearing his death, I didn't feel the need to cry. I struggled with my lack of strong feelings over his passing, knowing it was not healthy for me to avoid sadness. On Christmas Day of the year, I was reflecting on as many good memories of my father as I could. I decided to work out my feelings, so I sat down and wrote my father a letter. Dear Daddy, I remember something today. I remember when I was 3 years old, mom carried me right before bedtime and you sang "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" to me, and I remember your voice like it was just yesterday. I remember the warmth of you lying next to me and how special I felt at that moment. Then my mom carried me off to my own bed to tuck me in. I remember times when I could sit out on the porch with you and watch an approaching thunderstorm, and you would tell me the scientific facts behind lightning and thunder. I thought you knew everything. I remember you taking my two brothers and me on trips to a stream out in the country on summer days. We would walk along the stream, picking wildflowers to take home to mother. I want to thank you for giving me an appreciation of nature and science and of God's beautiful creation, Earth. I want to thank you for making us take part in "family worship" every evening after dinner. I remember that Bible stories and the Golden Rule on how to treat others, and I learnt how to appreciate music in my life from the hymns we sang. I also learnt to harmonize with my sisters. And most of all, I want to forgive you. I forgive you for not being able to tell me that I was a special girl and that you loved me. I longed for your spoken affection. But I realize something in your own upbringing would not allow you to express your feelings verbally . I realize that you did the best that you could with what you knew. I signed the letter and put it into my wooden box to join many other cards and letters from my family and loved ones that I cherished. But somehow, it had not brought any relief I desired. On New Year's Eve, I remember the letter to my father. I took it outside to the yard. Then I built a fire and dropped it into the flame and watched it burn. As I thanked my father for giving me life, the tears came. I released all the grief and whispered, "you were my father... and I love you." It can be inferred from the text that _ . Here are some facts about homes in the United States and the people who live in them. In the early 1990s, about 50% of the Americans own their homes and the rest rent their homes. The rented homes are usually apartments . 74% of the people in the US make their homes in or around cities. 26% live in the country. Dogs live in about 40% of all homes in the US. About half that number have cats. Families in the US are becoming smaller. On the average ,2.64 people lived in a home in the early 1990s. In 1960, the average was 3.5. Half of the teenagers in the US have their own bedrooms. An American moves, on the average,twelve times in his or her life. In Japan, a person moves about five times, and in England a person moves eight times. Families in the US are _ . Good afternoon and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be pleasant. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws. The first one is about drinking. Now you may not buy alcohol in this country if you are under 18 years old, nor may your friends buy it for you. Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don't make unnecessary noise, especially at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet. Thirdly, crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use the crossing for walking and don't take any chances when crossing the road. My next point is about rubbish. It is an offence to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it into a rubbish bin. Finally, smoking. It is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco if you are under 16 years old. I'd like to finish by saying that if you need any kind of help, you can turn to the police. The police will be pleased to help you. You can call, or directly go to ask any policeman. From the speech, we can learn that in England, .
Mr. and Mrs Black live in a small house near London with their children. Usually Mr Black comes back from work very late. At that time, his wife and the children are sleeping. So he opens the front door of his house with his keys and comes into the house quietly. One night he comes home very late. It is 11:00 p.m. But he can't find his keys. He rings the bell . Nothing happens . He rings it again. Again nothing happens. No one can hear it. Mr. Black knocks on the bedroom window. He calls his wife's name. He shouts but his wife doesn't wake up. At last he stops and thinks for a few minutes. Then he begins to speak like a small child. "Mother," he says. "I want to go to WC." Mrs Black wakes up at once . Then he speaks to her, and she opens the door for him. Which of the following is TRUE? Answer: At last Mrs Black opens the door. Everyone is busy nowadays.It's hard to find time for anything.From the time we wake up in the morning until the time we go to bed, it's hard to find 30 minutes to simply be by yourself.If you are married with children, I know you can relate to what I am saying. I would love to have a few days when I come home to an empty house with peace and quiet. There are days when you wish everyone on the other side of the door would simply disappear for about an hour so you can come home and relax without having to start dinner, bathe children, iron clothes for the next day. In fact, finding time to be by yourself is totally necessary if you wish to live a happy, and purpose driven life. If there is noise going on around you it's impossible to hear the quiet voice that speaks inside of us--that guides us and gives us direction on which path we should take and that is no good. Most of the stuff that we need- to get done, does nothing towards our personal development.If you simply let life direct you, you will find that there is never time to take simply for yourself. Yes, you can schedule a vacation every now and then and that is great. No matter how busy your life may be, spend time each day by yourself to think and reflect on life and listen to that inner voice. So by yourself! Go somewhere you won't be disturbed by the children, the _ , the phone, the television, the radio, or your emails. Go somewhere you can have total peace and quiet.Pick a time that is convenient for you. Who does the writer intend to write to? Answer: Married women. Why is pink or purple a color1 for girls and blue or brown for boys? The answer depends largely on cultural values as well as personal experiences. To the Egyptians, green was a color1 that represented the hope and joy of spring, while for Muslims, it means heaven. Red is a symbol of good luck in many cultures. In China, children are given money in a red envelope to bring good fortune in the New Year. For many nations, blue is a symbol of protection and religious beliefs. Greek people often wear a blue necklace hoping to protect themselves against evils . People's choice of color1s is also influenced by their bodies' reactions toward them. Green is said to be the most restful color1. It has the ability to reduce pain and relax people both mentally and physically. People who work in green environment have been found to have fewer stomach aches. Red can cause a person's blood pressure to rise and increase people's appetites . Many decorators will include different shades of red in the restaurant. Similarly, many commercial websites will have a red "Buy Now" button because red is a color1 that easily catches a person's eye. Blue is another calming color1. Unlike red, blue can cause people to lose appetite. So if you want to eat less, some suggest that eating from blue plates can help. The next time you are deciding on what to wear or what color1 to decorate your room, think about the color1 carefully. What color1 might help lose weight according to the text? Answer: Blue. "Just ate chicken feet for lunch. " These were the words I wrote on my blog yesterday. By the next day there were hundreds of comments from my friends. They ranged from "OH MY GOD! That is so disgusting! " to "What were they like?" to "Why can't you eat sandwiches like everyone else?" To Chinese people, chicken feet are a normal snack. To my friends in Britain, the thought of eating a chicken's foot is----well, weird . As weird, in fact, as eating a bullfrog, scorpion , snake, or turtle. But if there are two things I love more than anything else in life, they are: trying new things and food. I arrived in Beijing five months ago. Since then, I've searched for the "weirdest" foods so I can try them, then treat my friends to some "virtual eating" on my blog. One weekend, I went to Wangfujing, Beijing's "snack street". The trip gave me tons of blog material. "I chose a stick with three live, wriggling scorpions on it," I wrote. "And it was pretty good. The scorpion was warm and crispy. The legs did have a tendency to get stuck between one's teeth, however. What's more, I am sure scorpion number two stung me with its tail in revenge ." Next came snake: "A bit like a cross between fish and chicken, with a slightly rubbery texture and meaty taste." Some people were actually angry when I ate turtle soup----especially when I posted pictures showing the poor little guy's head staring sadly up at us from the bowl. "I am never speaking to you again," wrote one (former) friend. Still, I will continue my culinary quest. Next on my list is starfish, though I feel I should have some vegetables too----algae, maybe. So what am I eating, tonight, you may ask. Pizza. Well, a girl's gotta have a break sometimes. Which of the following "weirdest" foods is the one writer hasn't tried? Answer: Chicken's head. What was the origin of the oil which now drives our motorcars and aircraft? Scientists are confident about the formation of coal, but they do not seem so sure when asked about oil. They think that the oil under the surface of the earth originated in the distant past, and was formed from living things in the sea. Countless billions of small sea creatures and plants lived and sank to the seabed. They were covered with huge deposits of mud and by process of chemistry, pressure and temperature were changed through long ages into what we know as oil. For these creatures to become oil, it was necessary that they should be imprisoned between layers of rock for a great length of time. The statement that oil originated in the sea is confirmed by a glance at a map showing the chief oilfields of the world. Very few of them are far distant from the oceans of today. In some places gas' and oil come up to the surface of the sea from its bed. The rocks in which oil is found are of the marine origin too. They are rocks which were laid down by the action of water on the' bed of the ocean. Almost always the remains of shells, and other proofs of sea life are found close to the oil. A very common sedimentary rock is called shale, which is a soft rock and was obviously formed by being deposited on the seabed. And when there is shale, there is likely to be oil. There is a lot of luck in drilling for oil The drill may just miss the oil although it is near; on the other hand, it may strike oil at a fairly high level When the drill goes down, it brings up soil. The soil from various depths are examined for. Traces of oil. If they are disappointed at one place, the drillers go to another. Great sums of money have been spent, for example, in the deserts of Egypt, in looking for oil. Sometimes little is found. When we buy a few gallons of petrol for our cars, we pay not only the cost of the petrol, but also part of the cost of the search that is always going on. There are four main areas of the world where deposits of oil appear. The first is that of the Middle East. Another is the area between North and South America, and a third, between Asia and Australia. The fourth area is the part near the North Pole. When there is no more oil in the present oilfields to bring up, it is possible that this cold region may become the scene of busy oil activity. According to the passage, oil was formed from _ by process of chemistry, pressure and temperature. Answer: sea creatures and plants
Question: A teacher asks her students to examine titles of four scientific articles. Which titled article is specifically about a chemical change? A. How Baking Soda Reacts With Vinegar B. How Rust Can Be Scraped off of Metal C. How Metals Respond to Electrical Currents D. How Elements Can Change Phase When Heated Answer: A Question: Two brightly colored butterflies have just flown by. They seems to be exactly alike, but actually one is a little larger than the other. The larger insect has a wingspread of up to four inches. The smaller one has a wingspread of less than three inches and also a black line on its back wings. At first sight, it is hard to tell them apart. Would you guess from this that they are different-sized butterflies of the same species? Or that they are different species of butterflies but close relatives belonging to the same family? If you said yes to either question, you would be wrong, for these look-alikes belong to quite different families. The larger insect is the monarch butterfly . As a baby insect, the monarch feeds on milkweed, which seems to give the monarch a disagreeable taste and smell. The bright coloring of the monarch acts as a warning sign to its enemy. Birds that eat butterflies soon recognize the monarch and quickly learn to leave it alone. The smaller insect is the viceroy , which feeds on the leaves of trees. Birds would find this insect tasty, but because it looks like the monarch, birds keep away from it. The viceroy's similarity to the monarch gives it some protection from its enemies and helps it survive. There are other pairs of look-alike butterflies, bees and moths. In each case, one either has a disagreeable taste or smell, or can give a painful sting . The larger is called the model. The insect that imitates this model for protection is called the mimic. Which of the following statements is TRUE? A. There are few look-alikes among insects. B. The monarch butterfly and the viceroy are not close relatives. C. There are only a few species of butterflies in the wild. D. A monarch butterfly rules the world of butterflies. Answer: B Question: It was just three degrees above zero."That's cold", thought Jane as she got ready to deliver her morning papers . Jane had 50 customers ,and on cold mornings when she couldn't ride her bicycle , it took her more than an hour to make her rounds. As she collected her papers and put them into a big canvas bag , Jane regretted that she hadn't finished her maths homework the night before . There was still time . She would hurry with the papers and finish the maths before breakfast. Less than an hour later Jane nearly finished. She had only five customers to go. She could then go home to finish her maths homework while her Mom cooked breakfast . As she rounded the corner , she saw a car in the middle of the street . It was Mr Zimmerman , the elderly man who walked with a walking stick . His car was out of gas . "I'd like to help Mr Zimmerman," thought Jane ,"but if I do , I won't have time to do my homework." She hated to think what Mr Robert would say if she didn't finish papers. "It's his own fault for running out of gas," Jane talked to herself. "The station is only a half mile down the street . Surely Mr Zimmerman can walk that far, even on a cold morning like this...can't he?" As she walked down the street , Jane still wondered what to do. We know from the reading that _ . A. Jane couldn't find any time to finish her homework B. it took about an hour for Jane to send the papers C. Jane would have her breakfast in the school D. Jane liked to deliver papers on cold mornings Answer: B Question: Which is most characterized by the vibration of air? A. a viola B. a brick C. a blood cell D. a flashlight Answer: A Question: Part-time Front Desk Position Fuse Fitness is looking for a part-time front desk receptionist at our new Carlsbad location. Job duties include: l Welcoming and greeting members; l Answering phone calls; l Signing up new members; l Cleaning and performing other various duties. You should have great communication skills and be dependable. More importantly, you should have a positive spirit in stressful situations. You are expected to work five days a week (including weekends). Tel: (760) 434-7704 E-mail: info@fusefitness.com Apply in person at: 2502 El Camino Real, Carlsbad, CA 92008 _ The first impression you make in a job interview is very important. The first judgment an interviewer makes is based on how you look and what you are wearing. That's why it's always important to dress professionally for a job interview, even if the work environment is casual. l Before you even think about going to an interview, make sure you have suitable interview clothes and that everything fits correctly. l Get you clothes ready the night before, so you don't have to spend time getting them ready on the day of the interview. l Polish your shoes. l Bring a breath mint and use it before you enter the building. For more information: Visit: Or Tel: (800) 421-7250 or (760) 603-4000 Carlsbad, California What would be the best title for the second piece of information? A. What to Bring to a Job Interview B. How to Find a Desired Job C. The First Impression in a Job Interview D. Interview Dressing Suggestions Answer: D
So there you are on the phone, you ask a question, and suddenly there's silence. What is this, the phone's gone dead, the person you're talking to is dead? Possibly. But there could be another reason -- the other person could be Finnish, or Japanese. According to a handy new booklet from British Telecom (BT) for business people, in countries such as Britain and Italy "conversation is a form of entertainment. There is a continuous flow of talk...". But in other countries especially Finland and Japan, "it is not only impolite to break in, but listeners will think over what has been said in silence". It also points out that English, when spoken by foreigners, is likely to include plenty of "false friends", where word-for-word translation fails. If a Frenchman says something is "interesting", he probably means it's profitable.If he "demands" something, he's actually just asking. If an American says your proposal is "quite good", you should be pleased, because "quite" means "very". But if he tells you to "table" a proposal, then things are not good at all. Whereas an English person would understand tabling a proposal as putting an idea forward, to an American it means shelves it. According to the booklet, British people are not "explicit" like the Americans, the Dutch, the Germans or the French. "If a Dutchman says an idea is interesting, he means that it is interesting. If an Englishman says it is interesting, you have to deduce from the way he says it whether he means it is a good or a bad idea." The Japanese, the Russians and the Arabs on the other hand, live in the land of true dioplomatic subtlety ."If they say an idea is interesting, it may simply be out of politeness". It is safest to stick with plain speaking whenever possible, BT advises its British readers. And whatever you do, be careful to limit the use of the famous British sense of humor. We may learn from the passage that the best thing to do while talking to others, especially to foreigners, is to _ . Here I'd like to tell you something about my aunt Mary. She is thirty years old. She has a lot of hobbies. She usually gets up early in the morning. And then she walks her dog near the river. She sometimes likes to chat with others near her home after work. She often goes fishing on Saturdays. She loves music. She always goes to the Singing Club on Sundays. She also likes going shopping. Every time she goes to the parks on fine days. She doesn't like watching TV. She is a happy woman. How old is Mary? Turn on the radio. A program will come out from a broadcasting station miles and miles away. We know that sounds and music themselves couldn't travel that distance through space .There must be something that brings the program from the station. But what is this silent carrier ( ) ? This is known as radio waves. However, we can't see them or even hear them. In fact, nobody knows exactly what they are. Nevertheless( ) ,we know that they are made by electricity . At the broadcasting station, people talk, sing, play musical instruments or make many other sounds. These sounds are changed into electricity. Then from the broadcasting aerial of a tall tower , electricity sends out radio waves which travel in all directions .And some of them reach your radio aerial. What happens next is a magical thing. The radio waves start an electric current ( ) in your aerial like the one that was first made in the broadcasting station . Finally, the loudspeaker in your radio set changes the electricity into sound .Therefore, you hear the program. ,. You may find this passage in a _ . Babies born in summer are more likely to become short-sighted in late life, a study has shown. As many as a quarter of all cases of short-sightedness are caused by too great an exposure to sunlight in the first weeks of life, say eye experts. They are advising all parents to put sunglasses on their babies during the first weeks. Scientists had already established that over-exposure to sunlight caused shortsightedness in animals. Researchers who compared the months in which babies were born with whether they needed glasses later on say the principle also applies to humans. A study of almost 300,000 young adults-the largest of its kind-showed that those born in June and July had a 25 per cent greater chance of becoming severely short-sighted than those born in December or January. Research leader Professor Michael Belkin, of Tel Aviv University, said it was because prolonged illumination causes the eyeball to lengthen-causing short-sightedness. Hence the more light a newborn is exposed to, the more the eyeball lengthens and the worse the short-sightedness will be. The mechanism which lengthens the eyeball is associated with levels of melatonin , a pigment which protects the skin against harmful rays of the sun. In young babies not enough melatonin is released as protection, meaning they are more _ to sunburn and changes to eyeball shape. Sight expert Professor Daniel O'Leary, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said "At the moment we don't know the precise cause of why light exposure affects sight, but the evidence seems to prove that it is one of the reasons for people becoming shortsighted." From what Professor Daniel O'Leary says we can conclude that _ . Cowboy or spaceman? A dilemma for a children's party, perhaps. But also a question for economists, argued Kenneth Boulding, a British economist, in an essay published in 1966. We have run our economies, he warned, like cowboys on the open grassland: taking and using the world's resources, confident that more lies over the horizon. But the Earth is less a grassland than a spaceship--a closed system, alone in space, carrying limited supplies. We need, said Boulding, an economics that takes seriously the idea of environmental limits. In the half century since his essay, a new movement has responded to his challenge. "Ecological economists", as they call themselves, want to revolutionise its aims and assumptions. What do they say--and will their ideas achieve lift-off? To its advocators, ecological economics is neither ecology nor economics, but a mix of both. Their starting point is to recognise that the human economy is part of the natural world. Our environment, they note, is both a source of resources and a sink for wastes. But it is ignored in conventional textbooks, where neat diagrams trace the flows between firms, households and the government as though nature did not exist. That is a mistake, say ecological economists. There are two ways our economies can grow, ecological economists point out: through technological change, or through more intensive use of resources. Only the former, they say, is worth having. They are suspicious of GDP, a crude measure which does not take account of resource exhaustion, unpaid work, and countless other factors. In its place they advocate moreholistic approaches, such as the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), a composite index that includes things like the cost of pollution, deforestation and car accidents. While GDP has kept growing, global GPI per person peaked in 1978: by destroying our environment we are making ourselves poorer, not richer. The solution, says Herman Daly, a former World Bank economist and eco-guru, is a "steady-state" economy, where the use of materials and energy is held constant. Mainstream economists are unimpressed. The GPI, they point out, is a subjective measure. And talk of limits to growth has had a bad press since the days of Thomas Malthus, a gloomy 18th century cleric who predicted, wrongly, that overpopulation would lead to famine. Human beings find solutions to some of the most annoying problems. But ecological economists warn against self-satisfaction. In 2009 a paper in Nature, a scientific journal, argued that human activity is already overstepping safe planetary boundaries on issues such as biodiversity and climate change. That suggests that ecological economists are at least asking some important questions, even if their answers turn out to be wrong. Which in the following will the author probably agree?
Question: Las Vegas has access to renewable resources for generation of electrical power, which includes hydroelectric power. Which of these energy resources is renewable and available to generate electricity in Las Vegas without degrading the environment? A. petroleum B. geothermal C. nuclear D. solar Answer: D Question: It is hard to predict how science is going to turn out , and if it is really good science, it is impossible to predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they must be unknown in advance You cannot make choices on this matter. You either have science or you don't and if you have it you have to accept the surprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat and useful bits. The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we don't know enough about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the past hundred years of biology. It is, in its way, a clear piece of news. It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century to be told by any of us how little we know and how strange seems the way ahead . In earlier times, they either pretended to understand how things worked or simply made up stones to give answers. Now that we have begun exploring seriously, we are catching sight of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered. Because of this, we are sorry. It is not so bad being ignorant if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality of ignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-bad spots, but no true light at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted. But we are making a beginning, and there ought to he some satisfaction. There are probably no questions we can think up that can't he answered, sooner or later. Within our limits, we should be able to work our way through to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, arid pay attention. It can be inferred from the passage that scientists of the 18th century _ . A. thought that they knew a great deal and could deal with most problems of science B. knew that they were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature C. were afraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research. D. did more harm than good in man's understanding nature Answer: A Question: My name is Bill. I'm an English boy. I'm in a high school. Sam is my good friend. He comes from Canada. He is 13. I'm 13, too. But we don't look the same. Miss Zhang is my English teacher. We don't know her age, but she looks young. She is not Sam's teacher. Miss Zhou is Sam's English teacher. Now please look at my photo. In the photo, Sam, Miss Zhang and I are all happy. ,. Whose photo is this? A. Miss Zhang's B. Miss Zhou's C. Bill's D. Sam's Answer: C Question: For Rachael and Leigh Badman, there is only one wish on their Christmas list this year _ that their sick daughter survives until December 25. Fifteen -year-old Paige suffers from a rare brain condition. The disease affects as few as 12 people in the world, and can kill her any day without warning. And her condition has _ in recent months. Each time she closes her eyes, she may never wake up. Rachael and Leigh Badman are worried that she couldn't live through Christmas. They filled their house with Christmas decorations on November1, so she could enjoy her favorite day of the year in advance. Paige was diagnosed with the condition four years ago. Mrs. Badman described the condition as "being on death row" as she never knows if she will wake up and still have a daughter. She said, " Paige always loves Christmas and it's heartbreaking to see her suffering like this." In the last months, Paige has been unable to eat and has never walked or spoken. But she loves music, and enjoys watching pop stars' DVDs. And in May she also went on holiday to Florida with her parents and little brother, Kefton. The family , who have already organized parts of Paige's funeral, also saw the teenager swimming with dolphins during the trip. Since then, however, her condition has worsened. Mrs Badman, who is separated from her husband and works as Paige's full-time carer, said, "Now she can't eat or drink anymore, and her brain is shrinking. With all her problems, we just thought, 'Let's get the Christmas tree up as soon as possible.' We're praying she lives to see Christmas Day." What can be learned from the passage? A. Christmas is Paige's favorite festival. B. 12% of children in the world suffer from the disease. C. Paige enjoyed watching pop stars' DVDs on a trip. D. Paige travelled with her family before suffering the disease. Answer: A Question: Birds live in the trees. Squirrels live in the trees. But do you know that some frogs live in the trees, too? The tree frog is hard to find. It can change colors. On green leaves, it stays green. On a brown branch ,it turns brown. Some tree frogs can change from green to gold or blue. Tree frogs have legs and wide feet. They have sticky pads at the end of their toes. These sticky toe pads keep the tree frogs from falling off the trees. Tree frogs have different colors and markings on their skins. Their eyes are different, too. Some have green eyes, and others have bright red ones. The sounds they make are different, too. One frog makes a sound like a dog barking .Another frog makes a loud noise like a snore .There is even a frog that whistles ! Which of the following sentences is RIGHT? A. The tree frogs have different colors and markings on their skins. B. The tree frogs can't make a loud noise like a snore. C. We can easily tell tree leaves from tree frogs. D. We still can't find tree frogs if we hear a sound like a snore in the forest. Answer: A
Some spiders hunt on the ground, others build webs to trap their food, but the grass water spider catches its prey by running along the surface of the water. This special water spider lives on the grassy banks of streams where mosquitoes, damsel flies and other insects come to feed and breed. Although it is one of the largest spiders in prefix = st1 /New Zealand, it has an unusual ability. It doesn't disturb the water as it waits for its meal, and there is barely a ripple when it skims across the surface at lightning speed to catch its prey. Grass water spiders deal swiftly with larger insects like damsel flies by pulling their heads under the water and holding them there until they drown. After a meal, the grass water spider spends up to half an hour grooming itself. It wipes its eight eyes, brushes its antennae , and takes special care to clean the hairs on its body. It is the hairs that trap tiny bubbles of air so that the spider can run down a blade of grass and stay underwater for up to an hour when it is frightened. The hairs also keep the spider dry, even underwater. It is only when the female spider is caring for the young that she does not hunt on the water. After mating, she produces a large egg sac , which she carries around for five weeks. Once the eggs start to hatch, she attaches the sac to some blades of grass or a thistle. She then tears the sac open and releases the tiny spiders into the nursery web. The writer describes the special spider as "special" because _ . A it walks on water B it has eight eyes C of its hairy appearance D of the way it produces its young Answer: A Inprefix = st1 /Kansas City,Missouri, a computer helps fire fighters. The computer, which works very fast, has information about all the 350,000 street addresses in the city. Within two or three seconds after a call is received, the computer provides necessary information for the fire fighters. The information is then sent to them by radio from the computer centre in the City Hall. The exact place of the burning building and its size, type and any other details are clear to them. TheKansas Citycomputer system also has a medical record of each of the city's 900 fire fighters. This kind of information is especially useful when a fire fighter is injured. With the information, doctors at hospital can treat the injured fire fighters more quickly and easily. The fire fighters themselves greatly appreciate the computer's help. They know about possible danger ahead of them and can prepare for it. Many times the computer information helps to save lives and property . Sometimes the lives are those of fire fighters themselves. Mike Horan, a fire fighter captain, says, "I feel as if the computer is watching over me to help me if I get hurt." Why can the doctors treat the fire fighters quickly and easily? A The hospital has a very good computer. B The fire fighters can know about possible danger early. C The computers can prepare everything for them. D Medical records in the computers help them a lot. Answer: D From smallest to largest, the levels of organization in living things are A tissues, cells, organs, organ systems. B tissues, cells, organ systems, organs. C cells, tissues, organs, organ systems. D cells, tissues, organ systems, organs. Answer: C Your House Will Take Care of You In Old Age Have you ever thought what your life would be like in old age? Everyone talks about the "aging" society with large numbers of elderly people needing home care. Now German researchers have set up a "smart"house, programmed to help the elderly live at home with dignity. Scientists at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute say the house combines existing technology with future-oriented technology. For example, the "smart"bathroom has a touch screen mirror that can remind people to take their medicine, wash their hands or brush their teeth. The hardware behind Fraunhofer's electronic bathroom is not new, and the software runs on a regular personal computer. When the medicine cabinet is opened, a display in the middle of the mirror tells the person how many pills to take. The mirror is linked to a care provider, who can remotely check whether a patient at home is actually taking medicine and brushing his or her teeth. As many elderly people have arthritic conditions that make it difficult to operate water taps, the mirror also has displays that turn the water tap on or off or control the water temperature. The bathroom is only the start. Kitchens, bedrooms and all other parts of the intelligent"home will become "user-friendly"to meet all kinds of individual needs. Sensors in doors, toilets, taps, light switches and carpets detect every activity and record them electronically. Doctors or care staff can see from the computer records what personal hygiene tasks have been completed, how often the elderly person visits the bathroom or uses the toilet. In case of an emergency, the computer automatically alerts the chosen contact person or calls the care center. How is the passage mainly developed? A By inferring. B By comparing. C By listing examples. D By introducing a practical method. Answer: C the muscle that never sleeps takes oxygen rich what to the body A tar B plasma C antibodies D acid Answer: B
As goods and services improved, people were persuaded to spend their money on changing from old to new, and found the change worth the expense. When an airline equipped itself with jets, for example, its costs (and therefore air fare) would go up, but the new planes meant such an improvement that the higher cost was justified. A new car (or wireless, washing machine, electric kettle) made life so much more comfortable than the old one that the high cost of replacement was fully repaid. Manufacturers still cry their goods as persuasively as ever, but are the improvements really worth paying for? In many fields, things have now reached such a high standard of performance that further progress is very limited and very, very expensive. Airlines, for example, go to enormous expense in buying the latest jets , in which vast research costs have been spent on ly small improvements. If we abandon these vast costs we might lose the chance of cutting minutes away from flying times; but wouldn't it be better to see airfares drop dramatically, as capital costs become ly insignificant? Again, in the context of a 70 m. p. h. Limit, with lines of cars traveling so close as to control each other's speeds, improvements in performance are actually irrelevant; improvements in handling are unnecessary, as most production cars grip the road perfectly, and comfort has now reached a very high level. Small improvements here are unlikely to be worth the thousands that anybody replacing an ordinary family car every two years may have spent on them. Let us instead have cars -- or wireless, electric kettles, washing machines, television sets -- which are made to last, and not to be replaced. Significant progress is obviously a good thing, but the insignificant progression from model-change to model-change is not. According to the author, passengers would be happier if they _ . could get tickets at much lower prices For most teenagers, swapping an old mobile phone with a friend for the latest album or movie ticket might be considered a good trade.But 17-year-old Steven Ortiz set his sights a little higher, and -- after a series of swaps -- is now driving himself to school in a Porsche.The youngster started exchanging items two years ago after a schoolmate gave him an unwanted phone.Through a series of online swaps, Steven worked his way up through newer phones, laptop computers, and street bikes before landing the prized Porsche. Steven developed a love for online trading long before taking up the swaps that led to the Porsche.As a young teenager, he would buy his friends' unwanted mobile phones for around PS20, clean them up and sell them over the Internet for three times that amount. His father, Esteban Ortiz, said Steven was also useful to have around when the family needed something like a new washing machine, as he would use his nose for a bargain to pick up somebody's discarded appliance for next to nothing and fix it up cheaply."I think this is teaching him something.I want him to go to college, and make something of his life.He is learning the value of things, responsibility and negotiation skills." Steven got his first car at 15, but he was too young to drive, so he traded for a golf cart before moving back into cars when he got his license a year ago.Steven said swapping the Bronco, worth about PS10,000 at the time, for the Porsche was actually a trade down because the car was valued at PS6,000.Another downside is the running costs.He must pay PS100 every time the Porsche needs an oil change, and $1,000 for a routine service. Steven, however, still has some way to go before matching the achievement of Canadian Kyle MacDonald, who became famous four years ago for turning a single red paperclip into a two-storey farmhouse through a series of trade. What's the order of Steven's swapping process? _ . An old phone - a new phone - a laptop - a street bike - a Porsche. Homeschool materials are every where .In fact, as a homeschool parent, one of the best learning tools you can use is making use of songs. Think of it .When you hear your favorite songs come on the radio and as soon as the lyrics begin , you can join in at once and sing along. Perhaps, you haven't heard this song for months or even years! Doesn't it amaze you? There is no doubt that learning through lyric and rhyme is a great way! With some careful searching , you can come up with many songs ,lyrics ,and rhymes that fit well with your homeschool lesson plan or unit study. Some places even have songs that have the same themes with the lessons. are perfect to be used to add to your homeschool materials ! Even if you don't find a particular great song for what you may be teaching at the time, you can write your own. With a little practice, you can not only write your own songs over time but also be surprised how good you can become. Take any of the traditional chidren's songs and modify them to meet your needs .This is an interesting exercise for both you and your children. It helps you with reading , recognizing sounds, and improving memory. Soon you'll have your children want to write and sing their own songs! Song and singing is such a great way to teach your children. It's fun and relaxing. Sometimes. you really need such a break from your study and work .It will cost nothing. So turn your creativity and imagination loose and have fun .Whisrle while you work! Which of the follwing would be the best title for the passage? Homeschool materials in songs In recent years, Jimmy Carter, the 39thpresident of theprefix = st1 /United Stateshas shared with millions of readers the stories and insights gained from a lifetime of public service. Carter' range of experience is immense: as a farmer and father, sailor and statesman, homebuilder and humanitarian, president and peacemaker, he has brought to an extraordinary life a common touch, and his sense of hope and humanity have been an inspiration to many. Carter now shares his insights in a uniquely personal way. For years an author in prose , the former American president for the first time gives voice to his thoughts in poems. Jimmy Carter leads _ life now. an ordinary Seth was an elderly widower who lived alone on a small farm which he owned. Except for the farm, including the house and its furnishings, and the usual items of personal clothing and similar things, Seth owned substantially no property. Under proper management, the farm was capable of producing an adequate family income. Because of the usual deterioration accompanying old age, Seth was unable to do farm work or even to provide for his own personal needs. Seth entered into an oral contract with his nephew, Jim, by which Seth agreed to convey the farm to Jim and Jim agreed to move into the house with Seth, operate the farm, and take care of Seth for the rest of his life. The oral contract was silent as to when the land was to be conveyed. Jim, who lived about 50 miles away where he was operating a small business of his own, terminated his business and moved in with Seth. With the assistance of his wife, Jim gave Seth excellent care until Seth died intestate about five years after the date of the contract. In his final years Seth was confined to his bed and required much personal service of an intimate and arduous sort. Seth was survived by his only son, Sol, who was also Seth's sole heir and next of kin. Sol resided in a distant city and gave his father no attention in his father's final years. Sol showed up for Seth's funeral and demanded that Jim vacate the farm immediately. Upon Jim's refusal to do so, Sol brought an appropriate action for possession. Jim answered by way of a counterclaim to establish Jim's right to possession and title to the farm. 20 If the court's decision is in favor of Jim, it will be because the land is located in a state where the Statute of Frauds will not be applied if there has been such part performance as will result in an irreparable hardship if the contract is not performed.
Mr Black is a football fan. Every morning he goes to work by train. As he has a long trip, he always buys a newspaper. It helps to make the time pass more quickly. One Wednesday morning, Mr Black turned the important football matches. He knew the Football World Cup would be held in his city soon. He decided to go to watch the football game. While Mr Black was excited to be at the Football World Cup, he was disappointed at the location of his seat. Peering across the stadium through his telescope he saw an empty seat far away and made his way there. Mr Black asked the man in the next seat, "May I sit here?" "Sure," the man replied. "This was my wife's seat. She was a super football fan, and we used to come to the games together all the time until she _ ." "I am sorry for your loss," Mr Black said. "But I am curious . Why didn't you give the extra ticket to a friend or a relative?" The man replied, "They are all at the funeral ." Why does Mr Black buy a newspaper every morning? Answer: To kill time. There is no doubt that Apple is well aware of the increased competition in the market and could be in a hurry to put another device out there, said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC Mobile Devices Technology and Trends. Given its history with product launches and business policy, though, Apple probably isn't going to rush an iPhone release simply to put it on shelves, he said. "If you're Tim Cook (CEO of Apple), you're thinking if you want to pay more attention to how to keep growing that bottom line and keep investors happy, or continue with the same approach from Apple, which is do what we can do and manage products and releases in the best way they can work for us. Apple usually does things in their own time ,and I'm having a hard time buying this May or June timeline." Llamas told Mac News World. While it,s probable that Apple is definitely in a testing stage for its next smartphone , consumers likely have a standard wait for the finished product, said Colin Gibbs, analyst at GigaOm Pro. "It typically takes a year or longer to create a state-of-the-art smartphone, so no one should be surprised Apple is in the testing stages with the next iPhone. And while it's possible that Apple could launch the next iPhone this spring or summer, I'm not expecting to see it until a little later in the year," he told Mac News World. When it does launch, though, it could be in a variety of colors, said Gibbs. "Apple has already tested the waters with releasing colored devices when it revamped(,)its iPod line last fall, so it's not too much of a stretch to believe it would want the new twist with its smartphone, as well". "I wouldn't be surprised if the new iPhone becomes available in some new colors,'' he said. "That could be done pretty cheaply ,and it would give Apple a new marketing angle." According to Ramon Llamas, Apple always _ . Answer: does things as planned The scene in the Hollywood movie The Day After Tomorrow, when global warming could soon turn the global climate into a new ice age, may never occur, according to a new research. The next ice age could be 15,000 years away, say European scientists who last month announced a continuous record of 740,000 years of climate data obtained from the Antarctic ice. Scientists from 10 nations have now almost completely drilled through a 3,000-meter depth of ice high in the Antarctic mainland. They figure out that the area, where summer temperatures can fall to - 40degC, has at least 900,000 years of snowfalls, kept as neatly as the growth rings of a tree. And the ice and air caught in each layer have begun to answer questions about the climates in the past.. The results show that there have been eight ice ages in the past 740, 000 years and eight warmer periods. And by comparing the pattern of global conditions today with those of the past, the researchers reported in Nature that the present warm period could last another 15, 000 years. Research suggests that there is a very close connection between greenhouse gas levels and global average temperatures. It also shows that carbon dioxide levels are the highest for at least 440,000 years. "If people say to you: 'the greenhouse effect is a good thing because we would go into an ice age otherwise,' our data say no, a new ice age is not hanging over our heads," said Eric Wolff from the British Antarctic Survey. "Now we have eight examples of how the climate goes in and out of ice ages... and you can learn what the rules are that go into the climate models that tell us about the future." Scientists found that whenever temperatures rose in the frozen record, so did carbon dioxide level. "In 440,000 years we have never seen greenhouse gas get as thick as it is today," said Dr Wolff. In drilling through the ice in Antarctica, scientists have found that _ . Answer: snowfalls are kept in certain patterns Famous as "the king of chefs and the chef of kings," Auguste Escoffier helped raise the position of cooking from a laborer's task to an artist's job. Escoffier was born on October 28, 1846, in the small village of Villeneuve-Loubet, near Nice, France. Among the key figures in the boy's life was his father, who worked primarily as a blacksmith . His grandmother, an enthusiastic cook, was perhaps more responsible than anyone for introducing the boy to an appreciation of the delights of cooking. Young Escoffier attended the local school until age 12, upon which time his father thought it necessary that the boy learn a trade. In school he had shown a talent for drawing, yet he was told to regard this art only as a hobby, and to find his career in a more practical profession. Thus his father took him to Nice in 1859, where he would work as an apprentice in his uncle's restaurant, the respectable Le Restaurant Francais. At Le Restaurant Francais, Escoffier was not treated as the close relative of the boss. Rather, he experienced a classically demanding apprenticeship. For this strictness of training he would later, in his memoirs , express gratefulness. During this time Escoffier also attended night school, and had to deal with his studies as well as the demands of a promising career. When Escoffier was 19 and had taken on yet more responsibilities in his uncle's restaurant, a customer recognized his skills and offered him work in Paris. This was the owner of Le Petit Moulin Rouge, one of the finest restaurants in Paris, where Escoffier was to become a sous-chef, ranking below the head chef. After three years in this position, he rose to the level of head chef, wearing the respected chef's hat. It was his _ who first influenced Escoffier to be interested in cooking. Answer: grandmother Ask most people anywhere in the world what they want out of life and the reply will probably be: "to be happy." Ed Deiner, an American psychology professor, has spent his whole professional life studying what makes people happy, comparing levels of happiness between cultures and trying to find out exactly why we enjoy ourselves. Many people would say that this question does not need an answer. But Professor Deiner has one anyway. "If you're a cheerful, happy person, your marriage is more likely to last, and you're more likely to make money and be successful at your job. On average, happy people have stronger immune systems, and there is some evidence that they live longer." So who are the world's happiest people? It depends on how the word is defined. There is individual happiness, the sense of joy we get when we do something we like. But there is also the feeling of satisfaction we get when we know that others respect us and approve of how we behave. According to Professor Deiner, the Western world pursues individual happiness while Asia prefers mutual satisfaction. "In the West, the individualistic culture means that your mood matters much more than it does in the East. People ask themselves if they are doing what is fun or interesting. They become unhappy when they can't do any of these things. If you ask people from Japan or China if they are happy, they tend to look at what has gone wrong in their lives. If not much has gone wrong, then they are satisfied." People from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries had the happiest culture, Professor Deiner found. "The biggest cultural difference is to do with pride and shame. Hispanic cultures report much more pride and much less shame than others." Income also made a big difference to people's happiness, but only at the lowest levels. Average income earners in the US were much happier than people in poverty. But millionaires were only a little bit happier than people on average incomes. It seems that money makes us happy when we have enough to feel secure. In Professor Deiner's opinion, _ . Answer: Asians focus more on others' respect and approval than westerners
Horror seized the heart of the World War I soldier as he saw his life-long friend fall in the battle. Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his commander if he might go out into the "No Man's Land" between the trenches to bring his fallen comrade back. "You can go," said the commander, "but I don't think it will be worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your own life away." The commander's words didn't matter, and the soldier went anyway. To one's surprise, he managed to reach his friend, raised him onto his shoulder, and brought him back to their company's trench. As the two of them fell in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, and then looked kindly at his friend. "I told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "Your friend is dead, and your wound is deadly." "It was worth it, though, sir." the soldier said. "How do you mean 'worth it'?" responded the commander. "Your friend is dead!" "Yes sir." the soldier answered. "But it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive, and I had the satisfaction of hearing him say, 'Jim, I knew you'd come.'" Many a time in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on how you look at it. Take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret not doing it later in life. According to the soldier, why did he say "It was worth it."? A. Because the soldier saved his friend in time. B. Because the soldier successfully brought his friend back. C. Because what he did will bring him great honor and make him get promoted in his later life. D. Because his friend was still alive when he reached him and he didn't make his friend disappointed. Answer: D Great young stars make Chinese people proud, like Yao Ming in the NBA, and Liu Xiang in track and field . Now maybe we can add one more name: Ding Junhui. The teenage player has become China's hero at snooker . Two days after his 18th birthday, Ding reached the top of the 2005 World Snooker China Open on Sunday. He's the second youngest ever to win a world ranking title ! In the final, Ding beat the world champion 9:5. He came from far behind to win. "I didn't feel nervous because I just looked at it as a practice match," said Ding. "I was able to learn from the other players." Ding doesn't talk much. Besides snooker, he hasn't many outside interests. He says he doesn't want anyone to beat him at snooker. He has been in Britain since he was 16. He can play with the world's best players there. He practices many hours a day. "Every game is so different for me. I have to think a lot before I win. That's why I enjoy snooker so much," he said. From the passage, we know that Ding _ . A. is a man with few words B. has many outside interests C. is good at basketball D. never learns from others Answer: A Many animals hide to stay alive. They hide in many ways. Some animals hide in leaves; some animals hide in snow. Usually their colors or shapes help protect them. It's hard to see an Arctic bear in snow. Its white fur helps protect it. Chameleons can hide by changing colors. Their skin turns the same color as what is around them. Some chameleons can change colors in five minutes. Many animals try to look bigger than they are to stay alive. Some animals can make other animals think they are very big. If they look very big, animals that are looking for food will run away. Bears can walk on two legs. They look very, very scary. Some animals will run away from them. Many animals try to stay around other animals. This helps them stay alive. Zebras stay close together so that they can help each other look out of danger. Seeing many stripes at once can also confuse animals that want to eat them. Some birds stay in a circle, each toward a different direction. In this way they can also help each other stay alive by looking around for animals that many want to eat one of them. Animals have ways to stay alive. How many of them are mentioned in the passage ? A. One B. Two C. Three D. Five Answer: C There are three ways you can go about writing a resume: You can rely solely in your memory; you can dust off a previous resume and add something new to it ;or you can create a new resume from a permanent personal data record .If you don't have a personal data record, prepare one now. There are four topic areas for which you will need to record details. _ List the schools ,colleges ,and universities you have attended or are attending. Start at junior high school and record the name of each school, the address and telephone number ,the dates you were there. _ --Full name ,address ,and telephone number of the company or organization, and full name and title of each supervisor you worked for. --The dates you started and finished employment. --Your job title ,or titles if you held several position. --Your specific responsibilities and duties for each position. --Any special skills you learned on the job. --Special praise you reserved ,or results you achieved. _ --Membership in a club ,society ,or group ,particularly noting your responsibilities as an active participator or committee member. --Participation in community activities. Particularly describe any executive or administrative positions you have held ,with special responsibilities and dates. --Involvement in a technical society on a local or national level ,with particular mention of any conferences you have held, with special responsibilities you have presented or published. --Involvement in hobby activities. --A wards you have received for any activities you have been involved in. _ The names of people you feel are best fitted to speak on you behalf. For each person ,write down: --Full name ,profession title, place of employment ,job position. --Employer's address and telephone number. --Home address and telephone number. When giving advice about the writing of social activities, the writer_. A. emphasizes the importance of being honest B. suggests that you write as many activities as possible C. stresses the position you hold in the club or association D. tells you not to mention the involvement of less important activities Answer: C The United States Department of Agriculture has a program called Wildlife Services. Its job is to help protect agricultural and other resources from threats and damage by wildlife. Often that means helping farmers deal with unwelcome visitors. This organization has experts from different fields and it has set up thousands of inquiry agencies all over the country where farmers can explain their difficulty and get practical help. ks5u One example from Wildlife Services of its work involved a farmer in Washington State, in the Pacific Northwest. Several years ago, thousands of Canada geese landed on his fields. The geese began to eat his carrot crop. Biologists from the program suggested that the farmer use noise-making devices and other measures to scare the large birds away. These efforts apparently succeeded, which made the farmer quite happy. Wildlife Services also has a livestock protection program. The program just offers suggestions to keep those _ away instead of killing them. The Wildlife Services program is part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS. APHIS offers some suggestions of ways to keep away predators .For example, try to keep food and water safe from wildlife. Fences may help keep out coyotes , especially if the fences are at least two meters high. For best results, the bottom of the fence should extend about fifteen centimeters into the ground. Experts suggest providing secure shelter for chickens, sheep and other animals that could be attacked. The experts also suggest using lights above places where animals are kept. And they advise people who see coyotes around their property to chase them away by shouting, making loud noises or throwing rocks. For home gardeners, a two-meter fence might help keep out deer. To keep out rabbits, a wire fence has to be only about a half-meter high. It should extend fifteen centimeters underground to keep rabbits from digging under it. If snakes are a problem, remove dead trees and cut high grass to destroy their hiding places. And to protect livestock, consider using guard animals such as dogs and donkeys, which are very effective. Due to its effective work, ever since the Wildlife Services was started, it has been well received by farmers all over the States and neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico. The bottom of the fence should extend about 15 centimeters into the ground because _ . A. coyotes can climb over it easily B. the strong wind might blow it away C. snakes can cross it from under the ground D. rabbits may enter by digging holes under it Answer: D
Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. The purpose is to let children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly. The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family. Timing is another consideration. Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly allowance. In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money. At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance. The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving. Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics. Allowances give children a chance to experience the things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save and maybe even invest it. Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and investing. Many banks offer services to help children and teenagers learn about personal finance. A savings account is an excellent way to learn about the power of compound interest . That may not seem like a lot. But over time it adds up. Why are parents advised not to offer young children more money in advance? Answer: Innes worked as a secretary in an office in a building occupied partly by her employer and partly by Glass, a retail store. The two areas were separated by walls and were in no way connected, except that the air conditioning unit served both areas and there was a common return-air duct. Glass began remodeling, and its employees did the work, which included affixing a plastic surfacing material to counters. To fasten the plastic to the counters, the employees purchased glue, with the brand name Stick, that was manufactured by Steel, packaged in a sealed container by Steel, and retailed by Paint Company. In the course of the remodeling job, one of Glass' employees turned on the air conditioning and caused fumes from the glue to travel from Glass through the air conditioning unit and into Innes' office. The employees did not know that there was common ductwork for the air conditioners. Innes was permanently blinded by the fumes from the glue. The label on the container of glue read, "DANGER. Do not smoke near this product. Extremely flammable. Contains butanone, toluol, and hexane. Use with adequate ventilation. Keep out of the reach of children." The three chemicals listed on the label are very toxic and harmful to human eyes. Steel had received no reports of eye injuries during the 10 years that the product had been manufactured and sold.". If Innes asserts a claim against Glass, the most likely result is that she will Answer: "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 English thought that Italians used forks in order to _ . Answer: Joe and his friends were on their way to the Red Cross Headquarters to take the test for the first- aid badge .They had worked and practiced very hard the whole year and were confident that they would do well for their test. On their way to the test place, they saw a hit - and - run accident. A taxi driver had sped through the red light and almost hit a schoolboy, However, he could not stop in time to avoid a motorcycle that had turned round the corner. The passenger at the back was thrown off the motorcycle and landed heavily on the ground. The taxi driver was frightened and drove off. Everyone on the street was greatly surprised. Joe realized that they should take action when he saw the victim bled heavily. "Come on," he said to his friends and wanted them to follow him but they didn't move. Joe knew what they were thinking. They would have to wait for another year if they were to miss the test. "Which is more important? A man's life or a badge?" Joe asked his friends. The question made his friends feel small. The victim had a deep cut on his head. Joe and his friends dressed his wound to stop the bleeding while waiting for the hospital car to arrive. This was what the Red Cross Society had trained them for. The test for the first - aid badge is held _ . Answer: Dear David, How are you? I'm fine. I'm in London , at a school of English. I'm in Class Seven. It has eight students. They are from different countries ----Spain, Japan , Argentina, Switzerland and Thailand. Our teacher's name is Henry Briscall. He's very nice. He's a good teacher. I live with an English family, Mr. and Mrs. Brown. They have two sons and a daughter. Thomas is fourteen, Catherine is twelve, and Andrew is seven. They are all very friendly to me, and we are good friends. London is very big and very interesting. The weather is good and the parks are nice! Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James' Park are all in the city center . English food is OK, but the coffee is not good! Are you all right at home in Shanghai? Is everything OK? Write to me. Love, Paul The writer's class has _ . Answer:
Three high students become heroes after their act of saving a baby's life. Andrew Willis, 15, his brother Chris, 13, and friend Reece Galea, 14, were walking along Swallow Drive on their way to school on May 23, when Nicholle Price ran out of her house, shouting for help. Her six-month-old son Corey had swallowed an earring and the young mother couldn't ring for help because something was wrong with her phone. The three teenagers rushed to the aid of Ms Price, called an ambulance , calmed her down and waited with her until the ambulance arrived before heading to school. Ms Price, Corey and his grandmother Joyce Finnie visited the school last Thursday to thank the boys for their kind action. "It's good to know that there are still some good people who will stop and help," Ms Price said. "While I was shouting for help, a woman walking her dog went straight past, without stopping. I don't know what would have happened if these boys had not stopped." The teenagers were shocked at the attention they received at school for their heroic act but admitted that the incident was nerve-racking . "We heard her shouting so we knew something wasn't right," Andrew said. "We thought someone had died. It was scary but we just did what we had to do." Just as proud as the boys' parents is their principal, Tim McCallum. After two days in hospital, Corey has now fully recovered. "He's got two new teeth to show," Ms Price said. "I have to keep a closer eye on him. He's into everything now and grabs whatever he finds to put it straight into his mouth." Ms Price spoke of a woman walking her dog without stopping to show _ . A how dangerous the case was B how brave the three boys were C why the three teenagers' action was heroic D how clever the three boys were Answer: C If a human has all their bones removed A they are dancing B they can stand C organs are safe D organs will fail Answer: D Moving in with a boyfriend causes women to eat more unhealthily and put on weight. But the opposite is true for men, whose long-term health benefits when they move in with a female partner. Dieticians at Newcastle University said both partners try to please one another, and so change their dietary habits to suit their other half. It leads men to eat more _ meals, such as salads, fruit and vegetables, while women choose to make creamier, heavier dishes like curry or rich pasta sauces, which may please their partner. Women still have the strongest long-term influence over the couple's diet and lifestyle, as they still have the traditional role of shopper and cook in most households. The report, by Newcastle University's Human Nutrition Research Centre, reviewed the finding of a variety of research projects from the UK, North America and Australia, which looked at the eating and lifestyle habits of couples. The research shows that women are more likely to put on weight and increase their consumption of foods high in fat and sugar when they move in with their partner. Women also use food as a comfort when dealing with emotional stress and have been found to gain weight when a relationship ends, while the same finding has not been observed in men. Many couples reported food as being central to their partnership, and eating together in the evening was particularly important to many. Report author and registered dietician Dr. Amelia Lake said, "The research has shown that your partner is a strong influence on lifestyle and people who are trying to live healthier lives should take this factor into consideration." What would be the best title for the passage? A Don't be silly any more, women! B Dr. Amelia Lake and his study C Boyfriends make you fat. D Which are better dietary habits? Answer: C Today most Chinese teenagers are happy to be favored by two parents and four grandparents in their families. But have you ever thought about how to take care of four to twelve old people when you grow up and get married? This could be a problem for most Chinese youths as China is entering a new stage of an aging society. An aging society refers to one where 10 percent or more of its population is over 60. By the end of 2007, Chinese over 60 years old have made up 11.7 percent of the nation's total population. "China is getting old before becoming rich,"said Cai Chuang, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The population increase that has powered Chinese growth for three decades will give way over the next ten years to a rapid aging of the society. This will lead to weaker economic growth, because of a lack of labor resources. As a result of the family planning policy, it is expected that the country's total working population will decrease after 2015. China is not the only country getting old. More that 60 countries have become aging societies and one in three people in the European Union is a senior citizen. However, experts said that China doesn't have a highly developed social security network to support the old. Social security is an insurance program protecting those in need, including the old, the disabled and others. What does Cai Chuang mean by saying"China is getting old before becoming rich."? A China will be an aging society, then be a developed country. B China will be a rich country before being an aging society. C An aging society will affect Chinese economy development. D China will stop developing because of its aging problem. Answer: C Which fact about water is an example of a chemical property? A Water expands when it freezes. B The boiling point of water is 100ºC. C Water can separate into hydrogen and oxygen. D The density of water is greater than the density of ice. Answer: C
A disastrous competition is going on in England, with billions of dollars and hundreds of lives in danger. OK, that's not true. But competitors from around the world gathered on Thursday to compete for the title of 2012's World's Biggest Liar. Each participant is given up to five minutes to make up the best lie in the competition, which was started in honor of 19th-century Bridge Inn owner Will Ritson, who was reportedly famous for his lies. Competitors gather at the Bridge Inn every year for the competition, a small pub in northwestern England. Anyone can take part in the competition. Well, almost anyway; the reporters note that lawyers and politicians are banned, who is said to enjoy "an unfair advantage" in the proceedings . A study published this past July in the journal Evolution & Human Behavior found that nearly all lies are detectable through visible facial muscle reactions in the person telling a lie. "Thus, while interpersonal deception often is highly successful, signs of hidden emotional states are communicated clearly to the informed observer," the study concluded. A churchman of Carlisle reportedly holds what may be the greatest lie of all time in the competition, simply stating, "I have never told a lie in my life." In 2003, Abrie Krueger of South Africa became the first non-Brit to win the competition. Ironically, Krueger was accused by some of cheating. In 2006, comedian Sue Perkins became the first female to win the competition, telling a tale about people riding camels to work as a result of climate change. Last year's winning entry came from Glen Boyland, who told a lie about competing in a snail-racing competition with Prince Charles. The competition is held at the Bridge Inn because _ . A. its present owner is hospitable B. most local people are liars C. it once had a good liar as its owner D. it is a tourist attraction Answer: C. it once had a good liar as its owner Our culture is the system we use to build our identity. All living creatures are part of a culture. Even animals have a culture! So what is culture? It's the way we behave in a group. It begins with each individual family. Within our families we do things to build relationships with each other. This can include routines for doing things. It also includes traditions. Traditions are activities that are repeated on a regular basis. Culture is not limited to individual family groups. The real strength of culture is in larger community groups. These larger groups are called societies. Every society makes rules for itself. It decides how people should act in different situations. Some of these rules are written down. Some are just things that are automatically expected of all members of that society. Often, cultures can be identified by what the people believe. Cultures are also known by what they choose to include in their art. Sometimes a society forms around people who speak the same language. Cultures may also be known for their customs, including the foods they make and the things they do. Our cultures help us understand who we are and what we believe. There are very strong emotions connecting us to our own society. Two different cultures may disagree on something, especially if they both feel strongly about it. When that happens, war is a common result. People are learning better ways to communicate with each other. The more we learn, the more we appreciate the differences in cultures. Which of the following has nothing to do with culture according to the passage? A. A religion that a certain people practice B. Greetings sent to people we love during spring festival C. Face-changing in Sichuan Opera D. Someone's personal habit of staying up very late Answer: D. Someone's personal habit of staying up very late John Milton, the most learned poet, is the greatest writer of the seventeenth century and one of the giants of English literature as a whole. He was greatly influenced by two historical movements of Renaissance and Reformation. Like Spenser and Shakespeare, he was also one of the Renaissance giants not only in England but also in the whole world. Almost all later poets in English literature respected Milton highly. Milton _ over his age as Shakespeare towers over the Elizabethan age, and as Chaucer towers over the medieval period. John Milton was born in London in 1608. His education began at St. Paul's School, where he was very hard-working, where he showed wonderful gifts as a student of languages mastering Greek, Latin, Hebrew and many modem European languages. He also received very good home education under the influence of his father who was a Puritan and a lover of music and literature. He attended Christ's College, Cambridge University, where he was very popular because of his handsomeness and talent, where he explained the true aim of knowledge as making the spirit of man "reach out far and wide, until it fills the whole world and the space far beyond with the expansion of its greatness", where he graduated with B.A. in 1962 and M. A. in 1963. What was Milton's opinion to the true aim of knowledge? A. To think about what we don't know. B. To research the whole world and space. C. To make the spirit of man reach out far and wide with the expansion of the greatness of knowledge. D. To make the character of man strong and great. Answer: C. To make the spirit of man reach out far and wide with the expansion of the greatness of knowledge. All the housewives who went to the new supermarket had one great ambition: to be the lucky customer who did not have to pay for her shopping.For this was what the notice just inside the entrance promised.It said: "Remember, once a week, one of our customers gets free goods.This May Be Your Lucky Day!" For several weeks Mrs. Edwards hoped, like many of her friends, to be the lucky customer.Unlike her friends, she never gave up hoping.The cupboards in kitchen were full of things which she did not need.Her husband tried to advise her against buying things but failed.She dreamed of the day when the manager of the supermarket would approach her and say: "Madam, this is Your Lucky Day.Everything in your basket is free." One Friday morning, after she had finished her shopping and had taken it to her car, she found that she had forgotten to buy any tea.She dashed back to the supermarket, got the tea and went towards the cash-desk.As she did so, she saw the manager of the supermarket approach her."Madam," he said, holding out his hand, "I want to congratulate you! You are our lucky customer and everything you have in your basket is free!" The housewives learnt about the free goods _ . A. on TV B. at the supermarket C. from the manager D. from the newspaper Answer: B. at the supermarket The way Westerners communicate tends to be ly explicit and direct. In other words, Westerners tend to put most of their ideas and feelings into words, and then state these ideas and feelings clearly and openly. It is generally considered a good thing to "get to the point "and "say what you mean," and it is largely the speaker's responsibility to ensure that his/her message is stated in a way that is clear and easy to understand. In contrast , Chinese people tend to communicate in a way that is more indirect and subtle. They often view direct, explicit communication as unsophisticated or even rude. They are more likely to preserve good feelings and relationships by not saying something that might upset or offend another person. If a Westerner makes a request and a Chinese person responds by saying something like "I'll think it over", the Westerner may assume that there is a good chance that the answer will be "yes". In fact, there is a better chance that the implied answer is "no". One interesting example of the Western preference for very direct communication can be seen in what Western students are taught about how they should organize their writing. Writers are generally expected to state their point as clearly as possible, generally right at the beginning. Students are taught to begin paragraphs with a "topic sentence" that states the point of the paragraph. Also, articles should generally begin with a brief statement of the points to be made -and also conclude with a review of those same points. In contrast, in Chinese writing it is more acceptable to build up to the point rather announcing it right form the start, although it is also acceptable to state the point up front. It is important to note that Westerners are not all equally direct in their communication styles. For example, the direct communication style is more typical of Western men than of Western women. Furthermore, even in Western culture it is generally not considered good to communicate so directly that you hurt other people's feelings, offend them, or create conflict. When writing an article, Westerners _ . A. generally state their point in the middle B. tend to let readers guess their point C. usually announce their point from the start D. like ending each paragraph with a topic sentence Answer: C. usually announce their point from the start
What would you think if someone suggested knocking down St Paul's cathedral to widen the road,or pulling down Big Ben to make way for a car park? It'd be ridiculous,right? But when it comes to devastation of the natural world,we aren't so easily shocked.But we should be...or we'll be in a lot of trouble! _ Ancient forests are destroyed.Wetlands are becoming dry.Woodland is disappearing,all in the name of progress.This is bad in itself,but it's devastating for biodiversity. Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants,animals and other living things which are all inter-connected.The ecological services provided by biodiversity are vital to everyday life.The air we breathe is a product of photosynthesis by green plants.In fact,all life on earth exists thanks to the benefit of biodiversity.More than 90 percent of the calories consumed by people worldwide are produced from 80 plant species.And 30 percent of medicines are developed from plants and animals.Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is necessary to preserve all living things. The loss of biodiversity could be devastating."It is wrong to think that biodiversity can be reduced indefinitely without threatening humans," said Harvard University biologist Edward O Wilson,known as "the father of biodiversity".He warned,"We are about to reach a critical point beyond which biodiversity loss will be unavoidable." But what can we do? The problem is that the concept of biodiversity is so vague.People might care about giant pandas,but it is much harder to excite them about the fate of tiny sea creatures which are being boiled to death in the cooling systems of power stations along coastlines.The Guardian newspaper is trying to help.It has started the Biodiversity 100 campaign to try to convince governments around the world to take action to deal with the widespread concerns about biodiversity.This includes persuading the UK government to create a series of marine reserves to change the decrease in the sea-life caused by industrial fishing,stopping fishing sharks by the Japanese fishermen and banning the killing of dingoes in Australia,among many other things. There is a lot to do.And we'd better act quickly if we don't want to end up with a planet that can't support life! What does the author think of pulling down Big Ben to make way for a car park? A. Unreasonable. B. Necessary. C. Difficult. D. Urgent. Answer: A. Unreasonable. I am Lin Feng. This is a picture of my family: my grandfather, my grandmother, my father, my mother, my sister and I. My grandparents are in Beijing now and we are in Zhejiang. My mother is a teacher and my father is a doctor. My sister and I are middle school students. My sister is in Class 1,Grade 8 and I am in Class2, Grade 7. I have a good friend here. Her name is Zhang Ning. We are in the same class. What class is Zhang Ning in? A. Class Two, Grade Seven B. Class One, Grade Seven C. Class Two, Grade Eight D. Class One, Grade Eight Answer: A. Class Two, Grade Seven Early that day the weather turned and the snow was melting into dirty water. Streaks of it ran down from the little shoulder-high window that faced the backyard. Cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too. He was in the bedroom pushing clothes into a suitcase when she came to the door. I'm glad you're leaving! I'm glad you're leaving! She said. Do you hear? He kept on putting his things into the suitcase. Son of a bitch! I'm so glad you're leaving! She began to cry. You can't even look me in the face, can you? When she noticed the baby's picture on the bed and picked it up. He looked at her and she wiped her eyes and stared at him before turning an d going back to the living room. Bring that back, he said. Just get your things and get out, she said. He did not answer. He fastened the suitcase, put on his coat, looked around the bedroom before turning off the light. Then he went out to the living room. She stood in the doorway of the little kitchen, holding the baby. I want the baby, he said. Are you crazy? No, but I want the baby. I'll get someone to come by for his things. You're not touching this baby, she said. The baby had begun to cry and she uncovered the blanket from around his head. Oh, oh, she said, looking at the baby. He moved toward her. For god's sake! She said. She took a step back into the kitchen. I want the baby. Get out of here! She turned and tried to hold the baby over in a corner behind the stove. But he came up. He reached across the stove and tightened his hands on the baby. Let go of him, he said. Get away, get away! She cried. The baby was red-faced and screaming. In the scuffle they knocked down a flowerpot that hung behind the stove. He crowded her into the wall then, trying to break her grip. He held on to the baby and pushed with all his weight. Let go of him, he said. Don't, she said. You're hurting the baby, she said. I'm not hurting the baby, he said. The kitchen window gave no light. In the near-dark he worked on her fisted fingers with one hand and with the other hand he gripped the screaming baby up under an arm near the shoulder. She felt her fingers being forced open. She felt the baby going from her. No! She screamed just her hands came loose. She would have it, this baby. She grabbed for the baby's other arm. She caught the baby around wrist and leaned back. But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard. In this manner, the issue was decided. Is the baby a boy or a girl? A. A boy B. A girl C. We don't know. D. There isn't a baby. Answer: A. A boy Mr. White works in an office. One day, when he had lunch, a friend came to visit him . They were very happy and talked a lot. Then they looked at the clock on the wall. It was time to go to office. He had to stay goodbye to his friend and left. It was raining hard and the streets were wet. He drove too fast to see the red lights . And he couldn't stop his car and hit a car in front of his. An old man got off and called out angrily, " What are you doing? Do you want to hit me to death ?" "I'm sorry , sir," said Mr. White . "I didn't find the lights turned red." Then he brought out a bottle of wine and gave it to the old man .21 " It's very cold today , sir ," said Mr. white . "Please drink a little , then you'll be warmer." The old man drank some wine and became happy. "I'm feeling much better now. Why don't you drink any?" he asked. "I can't drink anything now ,sir," answered Mr. White."I'm waiting for the policeman to come .Only drunkers cause accidents, you know!" The story happened _ . A. in the morning B. in the afternoon C. in the evening D. at night Answer: B. in the afternoon When was the last time you saw three men running down a forest trail in the rain wearing flip-flops ?That's what my friend Brandon, Josh and I were doing last autumn. We were looking for a waterfall .We didn't have much time to get to the waterfall and back, so we were running. We were wearing flip-flops to prevent our shoes getting dirty. It was raining, but lightly. It kept us cool as we climbed over giant stones and through a shallow stream. We followed red arrows and crossed that stream several times, walking on toward the promised waterfall. Time was not on our side, however, and we were forced to turn around. As we started back, we looked at the shallow stream we had just crossed. Where did this rushing river come from? That was when we realized a flash flood was around! In the few minutes the water rose at a fast speed. Now there were no big stones to be seen-only what looked like lumps covered with rushing water. We had no choice but to move our way back carefully in the rushing water -in flip-flops. We had crossed the stream not once or twice, but six times in search of a waterfall that we never even reached! With most of the crossings, we needed each other's help if we didn't want to be washed away by water. Wet all over, we felt relaxed after we made the last crossing. "My dad always told me to keep off a river when travelling in the rain." Josh said as we hurried back down the path. "Why didn't you tell us that earlier?" I laughed. "Would it have made a difference?" came the reply. He had a point. Why didn't they find the waterfall in the end? A. Because they were short of time. B. Because they were wearing flip-flops. C. Because Josh kept warning them not to go any further. D. Because the flood prevented them from going forward. Answer: D. Because the flood prevented them from going forward.
Spring for north of the equator and Autumn for below the equator are attributed to earth's slant MUMBAI, India --The children in their party clothes on the stage were very excited when they received the award. And the two of them said, "It's unbelievable!" Nine-year-old, Rubina Ali, and Azharuddin Ismail, 10, were living a very different life and obviously loving every minute of it. The two, some of the child stars of the Oscar-winning Slum dog Millionaire(<<>> )movie, know the Indian slums very well. That was where they grew up, and it is where they will return at the end of their Hollywood dream trip. But before going back home, there was an interview with the host, Ryan Seacrest. During the interview they smiled and repeated their disbelief in what was happening to them. To their surprise, their movie won first place in the Oscars. When the two received the award, it was late morning in the children's home city of Mumbai, where family, friends and many fellow residents of the slums watched the result from Hollywood. "I don't really know what the Oscars are," Rubina's mother said. "I'm just glad my daughter looks happy, though she told me she missed Indian food." "Our children lead a dog's life," Rubina's mother said, pointing out the rubbish everywhere, the open drains and the lack of education opportunities. In a few days they will be back in Mumbai and back in the slums which are their home. Fortunately, according to media reports, the movie's director, Danny Boyle, has promised to help the children chosen from the slum and make sure they will go to a proper school. The two don't need to worry about their daily lives because of the Oscar success of Slum dog Millionaire. But the poverty and lack of opportunity --the central theme of the movie--is always all around. Which of the following is NOT true about the two children? They were the only two child stars in the movie, Slum dog Millionaire. Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to "think and concentrate." Spilich put young non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived of cigarettes through a series of tests. In the first test, each subject sat before a computer screen and pressed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and nonsmokers performed equally well. The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster, but under the stimulation of nicotine , active smokers were faster than deprived smokers. In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers. The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information than active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing. Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble separating important information from insignificant details. "As our tests became more complex." Sums up Spilich, "non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins" He predicts, "smokers might perform adequately at many jobs until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity." The purpose of George Spilich's experiments is _ . to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokers Amy likes fast food very much. She wants to go to McDonald's for dinner today. She asks Brian to take her there. Amy: Do you like McDonald's? Brian: It's OK. But you know eating too much food there is not good for your health. Amy: I know. But I like junk food. Brian: Why? Amy: It's _ . Brian: Yeah, right. Fat and salt. Amy: I don't care. Brian: You're all right. Quite slim . Amy: Let's go. (Amy and Brian stand in front of the counter.) Waitress: What would you like? Amy: A cheeseburger, a small fries, and a cup of orange juice. Waitress: 4.5 dollars. Amy: OK. Waitress: How about you? Brian: A chicken sandwich and a cup of milk. Waitress: That would be 2.5 dollars. Brian: Here you are. Waitress: Thanks. How much should Brian pay? 2.5 dollars. Which action most often causes sinkholes to form on the surface of Earth? removing groundwater
Ally wanted to bake a cake for her best friend Kelly's birthday. Ally called her friend Melissa saying that she needed Melissa's help to make the cake. Melissa wanted to bake cookies and cupcakes too. Ally said that was okay and to buy everything. Melissa went to the store and bought everything. Melissa went to Ally's house and they started to make the cake. After baking the cake, they started making cookies and cupcakes. The house smelled great. They had a lot of fun baking. After cleaning up, they called Kelly to come over to Ally's house and surprise her for her birthday. Kelly was surprised and so was their friend Shannon. The girls ate the cake and snacked on the cookies and cupcakes. The ladies laughed and talked as they ate. After eating, they watched a movie on Ally's TV. It was a good movie and the ladies all laughed and talked about it after. Kelly and Shannon left Ally's house to go home. Melissa and Ally said bye and had big smiles. It was a great day, and Ally was happy. How many friends does Ally have? Answer: 3 For a long time, people who fish have had to rely on luck to catch fish. Even big fishing ships, fitted out with radar and modern equipment, have their share of bad days. Wouldn't it be nice if fish could be trained to come at the call of a whistle the way some days are trained? Well, the days of "fish whistle" may be just _ . Japanese companies are working on methods that will train fish to return to harvest areas at the sound of an underwater whistle. The method works like this: First, fish eggs are hatched in a laboratory. Whenever feeding time arrives, a whistle sounds. The young fish learn to return to their feeding areas at the sound of the whistle. Later, the fish are set free at sea, near special-made under water "barns". There, the whistle-plus-feeding program continues. Being well fed and sheltered, the fish continue to live around the barn. So when fishing time arrives, all the harvesters need to do is to sound the whistle, drop their nets, and draw in a lot of fish. Many countries have closed their offshore fishing waters to ships from other countries. With fish whistle and barns, Japan hopes to become less dependent on importing fish from other countries. From the passage we learn that _ . Answer: many countries have taken measures to protect their fishing waters from foreign ships It had been a very disheartening day. The doctors had given us the worst of news. Our daughter, who had just completed her first brain surgery to remove a tumor and was going through radiation treatment, was now officially given a two percent chance of survival as this type of cancer had no cure. My wife and I decided to take our daughter to lunch before continuing our afternoon conversation. We went to a local restaurant where we sat in silence waiting for the waitress. I noticed a very elderly couple sitting a few booths away, who were also in silence and did not speak a word. I couldn't help but wonder what challenges they had faced in their life and if they ever faced such terrible news about a child of theirs. We eventually ordered our lunch and still sitting in silence we ate what we could. At some point I became intrigued by the old couple. I thought to myself that they hadn't yet spoken to each other and I wondered if it was the peace they were enjoying or the food or maybe both. However, at some point I lost interest and put my focus back on my lunch. Molly was still talking away and enjoying her meal. Her mom and I both listened and tried to be happy in her presence but it wasn't going very well. All of a sudden I saw a hand come out of nowhere. It was huge and I could tell that it had been afflicted with arthritis . I couldn't take my eyes off that hand. It landed on my daughter's tiny six-year-old hand and as it did I looked up; it was the old woman who had been sitting with the old man in silence eating their lunch. I looked into her eyes and she spoke, but not to me. She looked at my daughter and simply whispered, "If I could do more for you I would..." and then she smiled and moved away to join her husband, who had moved towards the door. "Look, a whole dollar," Molly spoke with excitement as she discovered a crumpled one dollar bill left behind by the old lady. I looked up to thank her, but she was gone. I sat stunned, not sure what had just happened and then I looked over at my wife. In almost unison, we broke out into a smile. The sadness of the day had been wiped out by the crippled hand and generous touch of the old lady. The dollar, although exciting to Molly, was not what made us smile; it was the offer from the old lady, who felt our suffering. The crippled hand symbolized a healing touch and made us realize that we did not have to fight this battle alone. What would be the best title of the text? Answer: A touch of heaven Last Friday my friend Deborah asked me if I would like to learn how to make tofu. I couldn't think of any good reason not to be interested in, so I said, "Yes". The next day I met her and another three nice people at the Hodo Soy Beanery Oakland. I enjoyed the trip. I got a lot from the trip. The following is what I learnt. Tofu has a history of 2,000 years. Although the word "tofu" is from Japanese, the food maybe comes from China. There are two main kinds of tofu: soft tofu and firm tofu . In some parts of Asia, people use tofu as a kind of meat. Douhua is one kind of soft tofu. It is a popular breakfast food in China. Because it is very soft, people can't eat it with _ , but with a spoon . People often eat it as a snack and often add spring onions and gravy to it. In Malaysia, people usually eat douhua with white or dark sugar water. ,. When did the writer go to Hodo Soy Beanery Ockland? Answer: Last Saturday. The life of an actor appears attractive and many young people dream about becoming one. But the truth is, it is very hard work. If you're successful, there are deadlines to be met, appointments to keep and the press to deal with. If you're not successful, then life is extremely tough. I remember when I started out, I had to search the advertisement board at my drama school every day to look for acting jobs. Drama school was expensive and I needed extra cash to help pay the fees. I welcomed every small job. I played extras in many crowd scenes and became a confident participant in a lot of TV commercials for hair shampoo, soap and washing powder. I had been working for about two years before I got my lucky break. One day, as I was passing the drama school, I decided to go in to check the notice board. There was nothing on it and I was just leaving when the secretary came along the corridor with a piece of paper. She asked me how I was and I told her life was hard and work was difficult to find. The next moment, she put the paper in my hand and walked away. My hands were shaking as I unfolded the paper, full of expectation. To my surprise, it was an audition for a clown for the Canadian circus. I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I had expected an audition with a famous director for a new film! When I was at drama school, there had been a course in acrobatics and clown tricks. I had gained top marks in this course for originality and daring. Later I went to the audition feeling very strange. This was not what I'd had in mind when I enrolled in drama school. To my surprise, the job as a clown turned out to be exactly what I wanted. I loved every moment of getting dressed up and putting on the make-up. I had the opportunity to travel the world and I was more than an actor, I was an entertainer as well. I had visited over 32 different countries and entertained millions of people. Which of the following can best describe the author's feeling when he unfolded the paper? Answer: Feeling anxious and excited.
Question: The first Ml choir rehearsal of the school year took place in the school hall. All the students joined together to sing. I watched as my elder sister and her grade came in and took their places next to us on the stage. Meanwhile, I could hear laughing. Some students were pointing at a girl standing next to my sister. I'd never seen this girl before. A girl whispered in my ear, " Did you know she's wearing diapers ?" After school that evening, I asked my sister about the girl I'd seen. She told me her name was Theresa and that she was a very nice girL ." Why were those kids being mean to her? I asked, "Because they're stupid," she said. One day, I was walking home from school when I heard voices behind me. "There's the little idiot's sister. Does your sister wet her pants too?" I walked a little faster and then I felt a atone hit me in the back. When I got home, I ran down to my sister's room. I pushed my way into her room, screaming at her. "Why do you have to be that giri's friend? I don't see anyone else being nice to her, " Janelle yelled back, Because she is a wonderful person and she is dying!" I will remember those words as long as I live. Theresa wet her pants because she had an illness, which was killing her. My sister was the only one nice enough to be her friend and stick up for her. A few months later, Hieresa passed away. I felt proud that Janelle was my sister. Throughout the years I watched her, and she always made friends with everyone. It didn't matter if they ware fat, thin, brilliant or not. She never left anyone feeling isolated or alone. It was she who changed me and taught me to never look at anyone in the same way again. What is the message conveyed in the story? A. We shouldn't look at anyone shallowly. B. Making friends teaches us more things. C. Disadvantaged people need our sympathy. D. Understanding is important among friends. Answer: A Question: A senior United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) official on May 29 praised China for its remarkable achievements in children s welfare. A. H. M. Farook, UNICEF's operations area officer for China and Mongolia said that China "can be very satisfied to tell the whole world what can be done with limited resources to help its children to grow healthily and happily." China's child population makes up one-filth of the world's total. "The reason behind the tremendous achievement is China's long tradition of caring for children home at home and in society." he said. "What's more is that Chinese people have always given special attention to children who are in special need." The UN official made the remarks when addressing a group of 50 children and staff from the Beijing Children's Welfare Home at the Shangri-la Hotel, Beijing. The hotel invited the orphans to share snacks, sing, dance and play games at a park inside the hotel for a "Share the Sunshine" party, as a prelude to celebrations to mark the Children's Day. The Beijing children s Welfare Home, set up soon after New China, was founded in 1949, has at present more than 400 children. A leading official of the welfare institution said that the children live a happy life and that the agency spends about 400 yuan a month for an average orphan. An average Chinese worker earned 440 yuan a month during the first quarter this year. Gu Xiaojin, deputy secretary-general of the China Youth Development foundation (CYDF), said people from all walks of life had contributed to the welfare of the Chinese children. She said that CYDF set up the Project Hope in 1989, which calls on people across the country to donate money to help poor children to continue their schooling. By the end of last year, she said, CYDF had collected nearly 700 million yuan in donations, which has helped the establishment of 2, 074 Hope primary schools and enabled more than 1.25 million dropouts to return to school classrooms. Three "Hope Stars" also attended the party. They were model teenagers chosen among students who are economically supported by the Project Hope to further their nine-year compulsory studies in the poverty-stricken regions. They will be torchbearers for the Chinese Team for the upcoming Atlanta Olympic Games this year. According to this passage, children can grow healthily and happily if _ . A. parents take good care of them both at home and in society B. the whole society care for children as well as their parents C. Schools and teachers pay much attention to the growth of children D. children's special needs can always be paid special attention to Answer: D Question: Going to school from 8 am until 5 pm may sound terrible,but Sydney Shaw,a seventh grader at the Alain Locke Charter Academy on Chicago's West Side,has come to like it--as well as the extra 20 or so days that she's in class every year."I'm sure every kid at this school says bad things about the schedule sometimes,"says Sydney, who was at school on Columbus Day, when most Chicago schools had a holiday."But we all know it's for our benefit." Finding ways to give kids more classroom time,through longer hours,a longer school year,or both,is getting more attention."If you want to look at schools where the achievement gap is narrowing, they're saying they couldn't do it without the added time,"says Jennifer Davis."Even when you get good teachers into schools,you also need more time." According to studies, low-income students fall back more than two months in their reading skills over summer vacations."It's over the summer months that poor kids fall behind,"says Karl Alexander,a sociologist."If you have parents who themselves didn't succeed at school and aren't highly educated,kids aren't going to get those skills at home." Schools are asked to take a full year to plan how to best use the extra time--a process involving teachers,principals,students and parents.They are given outside support to help them base their plans on the best available analyses of student needs.It's still early,but officials are already seeing stronger test scores and a narrowing achievement gap. But some critics are worried."We risk producing something that's very expensive and time-consuming, and that will give educators a lot of trouble,"says Frederick Hess."Before we spend all that extra money,I'd much rather see if we can figure out how to get 50 percent more instructional time out of the current school day." Some people are worried about adding school hours mainly because _ . A. it will have a bad effect on the kids' futures B. the current school day has been too busy C. no one supports the idea D. it will be costly and time-consuming Answer: D Question: In the hit film The bucket List, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman meet in hospital in California after they have been diagnosed with cancer. Between them they cook up a "bucket list" ------ a to-do list of all they want to do before they _ . The movie makes you wonder what would be on your bucket list. So let's pack up some and see what it would cost to go out and have a little fun. THE PYRAMIDS, GIZA, EGYPT On to the pyramids, surely on anyone's bucket list. Exotik Tours can take you there on a variety of trips, including their popular Egypt Express which includes three nights in Cairo and a three-night Nile Cruise . From $1,384, including four-and five-star accommodation, 12 meals and a ton of sightseeing. _ 416-646-3347 TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, INDIA One of the world's most fascinating images, India's Taj Mahal makes even Nicholson and Freeman look calm. Toronto's Goway Travel has many suggestions for India, including a three-day independent visit to Agra. Stay at the attractive Oberoi AmarVilas overlooking the Taj. Include two breakfasts, touring and airport transfer from $1,420. _ 416-322-1034 THE GREAT WALL, CHINA If the Great Wall of China is on your bucket list, check into Tour East Holiday's four-day Amazing Beijing Tour for $580 per person, four-star accommodation, sightseeing including the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, breakfasts and two lunches, transportation and guide. _ 416-929-0888 THE HIMALAYAS, NEPAL And on to the Himalayas. Talk about something truly majestic . See the top of the world on GAP Adventures' Everest Adventure tour, a 15-day exploration including Everest Base Camp, teahouse lodge stays, and walking through Sherpa villages. Incredibly affordable at just $665 plus local payment of $250. GAP Adventures warns that this is a physically demanding trip. _ 416-260-0999 If you take on the Everest Adventure tour, you should be aware that _ . A. the sights may not be so good. B. it is a tiring trip C. you may not be used to the food there D. it is an expensive trip Answer: B Question: What is the outermost structure in a plant cell? A. cell membrane B. cytoplasm C. cell wall D. chloroplast Answer: C
I once experienced an unforgettable trip to Gloucester to see some of the world's most beautiful and exciting animals in their own habitat , the North Atlantic Ocean. After a long trip by bus, we got on the ship. After a while, we stopped and everyone on the ship started to shout because we saw a humpback whale . It was wonderful. Sometimes, whales came so close to the ship that you thought you could easily touch them. While we were watching the whales, a guide was giving us some information about them. She told us that we saw only two kinds of whales -- 50-foot humpback whales (singing whales) and 70-foot fin back whales (the second largest whales on earth). She also said we could easily recognize a whale by its tail because every whale has a different kind of tail just like people have different fingerprints. They all have names, and on this trip, we saw "Salt" and "Pepper", two whales named by a biologist and a fisherman. They were swimming together all the time. I took twenty-seven photos, but it was very hard to take them because the whales were quick and stayed on the surface of the ocean just for a short time. It was really something. It was one of the chances that a person hardly ever experiences in life, but I had that chance. When they were watching the whales, _ . Answer: a guide told them something about the whales Education has an important effect on the mind or physical ability of an individual. It is the process by which society passes its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another. Various non-traditional education options are now available and continue to flourish . One of the most important uses in education is the use of technology. Teachers are encouraged to use new technological devices in order to strengthen learning among students and meet the needs of various types of learners. The right to education has been created and recognized by jurisdiction . Education is the most important concern of the government of India. Recently India has gained world recognition because many students from foreign countries come here to gain higher qualifications. One has to be educated in order to speed up the growth process in order to influence the economy. Education is indeed a powerful weapon to stop the cut- throat competition that man faces at every period of life. The importance of education in India is progressing with time. Although India has been a great foundation of learning for many years, it still needs to improve not just on the quality of education but also on the number of people being educated. Education is not just for academic success but also to make a person become a better human being and a better performer in life. Education makes the students able enough, so that they can compete nationally and internationally. To make a student a successful survivor in life, the responsibility lies equally with the schools and the parents too. Selecting a good school is as important as choosing a suitable career option for a child. The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the _ of truth, it is education that gives us all the power and necessities of making a difference in any field. People who are not educated have few opportunities to do what they want to do. Educated people become more responsible and informed citizens, and have a voice in politics and society. It allows people to be more productive by encouraging them to play responsible roles in terms of contributing to society. The author uses the example of Indian education to show that _ . Answer: the right to education should be valued all over the world Every morning Tom goes to work by train. He has a long way to go. So he always buys a newspaper. It helps him to spend the time on the train. Tom likes sport very much. One morning on the train he is reading something about the football match. So he forgets to get off the train at his station. He doesn't know it. When he finishes reading, he looks out of the window. It's far from his station. He gets off at the next station. He has to go back by train. Of course, he is late for work. Where does he get off the train at last? Answer: the next station to his work place Lots of kids hate school, a new study found. Usually this kind of feeling doesn't last long. But what happens if you feel this way too much? School is a fact of life and getting a good education can help you build the kind of future life you want. So let's talk about school and what to do when you don't like it. If you don't like school, the first step is to find out why. You might not like school because you don't have enough friends, or maybe you don't get along with your teacher. Sometimes it's a big problem with your classes and school-work. You may be getting farther and farther behind, and it may seem like you'll never catch up. When you know why you don't like school, you can start taking steps to make things better. It's a good idea to talk to someone about your problems with school. Your mum, dad, teacher or school counselor will be able to help you. Another good idea is to write down your feelings about school in a notebook. It's a great way to let out emotions . Remember, you don't have to share what you've written with others. How many reasons why you don't like school are given by the writer? Answer: Three. Last summer I went to India with my family. We spent 10 days traveling around Rajasthan and I will never forget it. We saw lots of things like the Taj Mahal and we went to a tiger reserve . Our guide was called Krishna and he was really nice especially when I didn't always understand things he would explain it to me and answer all my stupid questions. Also when I got ill with a fever, he was really kind and gave me medicine and got a priest to give me a _ in a Hindu temple we visited, and then I got well again very quickly. There were lots of amazing parts of the holiday. One was when we got to ride on elephants in Jaipur. My sister and I rode an elephant called Lucky. We were in a camel cart but Krishna talked to the camel's owner and we were allowed to ride on them, which was really cool. I also really liked the Taj Mahal because it was even prettier than I imagined. My sister lost her shoes. But the people in India are really kind, so we found them again. The weather was really hot which was nice because Krishna gave us lots of time to spend in the pool and relax in-between going to see all the amazing places. This was the best holiday that I have ever been on. I wish I could come back another year. From this passage we can know that a good guide _ . Answer: should explain something that visitors can't understand
reptiles lay what? A live young B rocks C dirt D oval whites Answer: D. oval whites Did you sleep the day away on March 21? Well, you should have done that because it was World Sleeping Day. This is the one day of the year when people around the world care about their sleep and ask themselves a lot of questions about sleep. Why do we need sleep? Nobody as yet can give a correct answer to this question. However, tests have shown that lack of sleep over about four weeks leads to a strong drop in body temperature, great weight loss and finally sickness. Different people need different amounts of sleep. Eight hours a night is considered the average amount of sleep. For teenagers the least number of sleeping hours advised by doctors are ten hours for primary school students, nine for junior highs and eight for senior highs. Some people seem to get along just fine with very little sleep at night. Leading American scientist Thomas Edison said that sleep was a waste of time. He did, however, take naps during the day. On the other hand, Albert Einstein, another great scientist, said he needed at least ten hours' sleep a night. Here are some of the most useful suggestions, for a good night's sleep. Go to bed regularly. Use your bed only to sleep. Don't exercise in the evening. Keep the bedroom dark and quiet. Drink a glass of milk before sleep. Lacking of sleep over four weeks leads to many problems, except _ . A drop in body temperature B great weight loss C sickness D memory loss Answer: D. memory loss Extracurricular School Activities Many schools today provide various extracurricular activities. Some activities are before school, some are after school, and a few may even take place on weekends. Many parents like their children to take part in these activities. Yet some parents are still a little _ it. Actually, these activities have many advantages for students. It is a wise choice for parents to allow students to get involved in extracurricular activities at school. It can help students to develop many working skills, people skills, and more. When students get involved in extracurricular activities, they get involved in different interests. These activities allow them to develop various interests that they may have. It also helps to raise the self-esteem of students. Many students feel worthless or there is nothing they are good at. Everyone wants to find something that they are really good at, and extracurricular activities provide the opportunity for them. Students can also learn relationship skills. They need to get involved in social activities and learn how to act properly in social situations. These activities give them a chance outside of school to do this, while they are still supervised by adults. Of course, while there are many excellent benefits of extracurricular activities for students, you need to consider how much is too much. It can be a great choice to get involved in a few different activities, but too many activities can have negative effects. If students take part in too many activities, they often have problems in their studies. They may not get enough rest. They may not have time to relax. It's important for students to set some limits to extracurricular activities. Students can pick out a couple of their favorites and make sure they can handle them. Some kids feel like they have to take part in many activities to be a success, and this is not good to them. When students get involved in extracurricular activities, there are certainly excellent benefits that they'll enjoy. They are doing it for their future success. It's important that students don't try to "do it all". From the passage we can learn that _ . A most extracurricular activities take place on weekends B extracurricular activities help students have same interests C students feel worthless in extracurricular activities D extracurricular activities are supervised by adults Answer: D. extracurricular activities are supervised by adults Every year,there have been the Christmas specials for almost every sitcom and cartoon,which nod in sincerity towards the holiday season.Since Charles Schultz,the American cartoonist who created Charlie Brown and Snoopy,first got his hit on the holiday with A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965.characters from television and comic books have tried on the Christmas clothes. This year,Fox has brought out its new"lce Age":A Mammoth Christmas,which was first shown on Thanksgiving day.The "Ice Age"films,which began in 2002,with a fourth feature for 2012,have been successful.one thing many fans would love the film is that they can have a chance to spend more time with the memorable animal characters from the series:Manny,Diego,and Sid.The film.tells the story of the birth of the Christmas tree,Santa'S deer,his sleigh and other things. It is also a"Christmas Must Be Saved" story and a"You Must Believe"story.Like the other"Ice Age" films,it involves a dangerous journey and time is found to cause sufferings to the poor little squirrel,Scrat. Christmas has been tied on to"Ice Age"like antlers on to a dog.In fact,the film-makers behind A Mammoth Christmas have spent most of their time working on the film itself rath--er than its Christmas special.It feels as if someone had merely made a list of tllings associated with the holiday. However,Sid,the series'most likable character,is a high point of the film.In the film,he's still got his silliness,enthusiasm and useful amusing shape.Whatever else is happening,the filmmakers make Sid reliably funny. The new"Ice Age"film appeals to fans because _ . A it is about the stories of the Christmas B it is an adventure of sortie lovely animals C it is shown during Thanksgiving Day D they find it good to be with their beloved characters Answer: D. they find it good to be with their beloved characters Morocco, a North African kingdom, is on the south of the Mediterranean Sea and on the east of the Atlantic Ocean, between Algeria and Western Sahara. Morocco became independent from France in 1956. People in Morocco speak Arabic, which is the official language. Some people speak French and Spanish. 98.7% of the people believe in Islam. The capital city of Morocco is Rabat. Casablanca, in the north of this country, is the largest city. The famous movie Casablanca tells a story which happened in this city. It seldom rains in Morocco. The coastal cities are not cold in winter (around 16degC) and not hot in summer (around 22degC). In the inland areas, winters are colder and summers warmer. High up in the mountains the temperature can be as cold as -17.8degCin winter, and mountain tops are covered with snow most of the year. The population of Morocco is about 31,000,000. Most children in Morocco go to primary school, but only about 39% of them go to secondary school. However, this country has one of the oldest universities in the world, hundreds of years older than Oxford University. It is Al Qarawiyin University in Northern Morocco, which was founded in AD 859. What would be discussed next? A Language. B Weather. C Education. D Resources. Answer: D. Resources.
Hello, I'm Linda. This is Jen. She's my mum. She's 38 years old. She's wearing a red coat, a pair of red shoes and a pair of blue pants. She often wears a big hat, too. She is a teacher. And the students in her school like her very much. She likes singing . But she doesn't like playing sports. On Sundays, she goes shopping with me. ,. Jen likes _ . It's Sunday today. Students are having good time in the park. Look, there is a table under a big tree, three students are sitting there. Lucy is reading a book, she looks very happy. Next to her is another girl, she's Mary. She is eating apples with her friend Jean. They think the apples are very delicious. Other girls are drawing pictures there.In the middle of the park, there is a playground. There are four boys, they are playing basketball. Lisa is watching them, and singing beautiful songs. Near the lake, Mr. Li is telling interesting stories for other students, they are so happy and relaxing. What is Lucy doing in the park? Do you like sports? Here are some sports clubs for you. Ball Games Club Do you like ball games? We have basketball, soccer, volleyball and tennis for you. Let's play them together! Sunday: 8: 30 a.m.~ 11: 00 a.m. 3: 00 p.m. ~ 6: 00 p.m. Telephone: 15934678726 Roller Skating Club Do you like roller skating? You can have a lot of new friends in our club. Students are 6~16 years old. Saturday and Sunday evenings: 7: 00~ 10: 00 Meet on Renmin Square . Telephone: 13473401430 Cycling Club Let's go out with our friends on our bikes. It's really cool and exciting. Saturday morning: 6: 00~11: 00 Start in the city park. E-mail address: cycling@163.com Kung Fu Club Do you want to do kung fu well? Come and join us! Sunday evening: 6: 00~8: 00 Call us at 746-3838. Who can join Roller Skating Club? Today, traditional opinions about men still exist. A man has to be strong, brave, sports loving and manly. Anything less would not be considered manly. Sports such as football, basketball and boxing all tend to be men's sports. However, the dance of ballet is considered _ because it requires nice movements. This tradition is shown in the movie, Billy Elliot. Billy Elliot is a movie that protests against this traditional view of men. Billy Elliot is an eleven-year-old boy that has a natural talent for ballet dancing, but his father will not allow it. Billy's father wants him to take up boxing and become stronger, but Billy goes against his father's wishes and takes up ballet dancing. This difference of opinion makes Billy sad. What's more, his friends also laugh at him. After saving enough money, his father sends Billy to a weekly boxing course; however, Billy doesn't enjoy boxing because he always loses in matches and is often hurt. His ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson thinks that men or women should not be judged by the activities they like to do, so she tells Billy's father that although he wants his son to make a good living, he should let his son do what he loves to do because he has a talent for it. When his father finally realizes the truth, Billy is surprised. In the end, with the help of his father, brother and all the people around him, Billy goes to the Royal Ballet Academy in London and becomes a very successful ballet dancer. What do we know about Billy? Classified Ads For direct classified service, call 800-0667 10 a.m.--4 p.m., Monday---Friday. For Rent Best on Campus Excellent Room for girls, begins Jan., 2, 4, or 8 months lease. Single, $ 105. $125. Double, $ 140. Call 800-1932. Family Home, 3 bedrooms, large yard. $ 275. Call 800-4300. For Sale Sheepskin Coat, men's size 42, 1year old. $ 85. After 6 p.m. call 800-5224. Moving: Must sell. Color TV 21, $ 150; transistor radio, $ 15; recorder, $ 25. Call 800-0739. Help Wanted Babysitter--My home If you could find a few hours during the day, some evenings and weekends to care for 2 school- age children, please call 800-1111. Lost A black bag with a pencil-box and some books left in the reading room. Will the finder please come to Class 3, Grade 1? Found A green jacket was left on the sports ground yesterday afternoon ( April 15th). Will the owner please ring 656-6688 If you want to find a part-time job, you will look at _ .
Recently, I came across an interesting article on the differences between British English and American English. I had a lot of fun reading it and thinking of as many differences as I could as an American. Their cars have "bonnets ",while ours have "hoods". They park their cars in a "car park" while we leave our in a "parking lot". Our "cookies" are their "biscuits", while their "rubbers" are our "erasers". Then there are the food words. Would you want to eat something called "Toad in the Hole" or "Bangers and Mash" or "Spotted Dick"? I'm here to report they are all very tasty. There are American equivalents , of course. We've got "Shoofly Mud Pie". What they call "crisps" is what we call "potato chips" and when we ask for "chips" in England we will get what we know at home in America as "French fries". They find it hysterical that we call the "toilet" the "bathroom" and they really double over with laughter when we ask for the "restroom". American ladies in England who ask for the "little girl's room" or the "power room" will be met with blank stares. A "fag" is a "cigarette" in the UK, which can lead to endless confusion for British visitors looking for a cigarette in America. Americans on the other hand are endlessly confused by English signs put up over doorways saying "Way Out". We Americans walk on the sidewalk not the pavement. "Pavement" in America is the actual cement the sidewalk is made of. What do British people call French fries? A. Chips. B. Crisps. C. Shoofly Pie. D. Mississippi Mud Pie. Answer: A Mr Smith was the manager of a hotel in Springfield. One weekend all of the hotels in the city were full because there was a large meeting. Late in the evening three men came into the hotel and asked for rooms. Mr Smith explained that because of the meeting, there were no rooms ready for use. The men were very unhappy because they had no place to stay in. Mr Smith wanted to help them. He remembered that Room 414, a very small room, was empty. He asked them if they would share a room. The three men agreed. Mr Smith told them that the room would cost $30: $10 for each. Each of them gave Mr Smith $10, and they went up to the room. Mr Smith soon began to feel sorry. "Thirty dollars is too much for that small room," he thought. He called one of his men over and said, "Here is $ 5. Bring it to the man in Room 414. I've asked too much money for their room." The worker took the money from his manager. While he was on his way to Room 414, he started to think, "How can I divide $5? Well, I'll give each of them only $1 and I keep $2. The men will be happy to get anything back. I'll make a little money and Mr Smith will never know." So he returned $1 to each man. You see, there come a problem, each man had at first paid $10. After the worker returned them $1 each, each man had paid 9. There were three men, $9 x 3 =" $27." The worker kept $2 --$27+$2="29." Where is the missing dollar? Where was the missing dollar? A. There wasn't any missing dollar at all. B. It was taken by the worker too. C. It was taken by the manager Mr Simith. D. It was taken by the three men themselves. Answer: A An African proverb says that a single hand cannot tie a bundle. Everyone needs companions to help them sail through the rough seas of life. Even the strongest and richest person still needs friends. Our money and strength would have no value if we had no friends to share with us. The best friendship is a give-and-take relationship. We need the support of our family, friends and the community. In turn we also give support to the society, our friends and our family. The word "friend" has many meanings. It could be the bus driver who takes you to and from work every day. It could be a parent, a colleague, a wife or husband, a brother or sister, or even the unknown person who helped you just once when you could not find your way. Real friends share not only our happiness but our sorrows as well. This may explain why we have the expression "a friend in need is a friend indeed". Friendship is like the sunshine that keeps us warm. It is like the refreshing raindrops on the fields that give the farmers hope of a good planting season. Without friends our life would be like a desert where our only friend would be loneliness and sadness. The most fortunate person is the one who has friends from all levels in the society. A driver might find friends not only among his colleagues but among farmers, bankers, traders, students, politicians or teachers. We should never forget our old friends when we make new ones. We should treasure each of our friends whether poor or rich, beautiful or not. Each friend is _ in his or her own way. And all together, they enrich life and make it very colourful. What is the correct understanding of friends according to the writer? A. Friends who share our happiness are not real friends. B. Friends will take us through rough seas. C. Friends never expect anything from others. D. Friends can be different people around us. Answer: D An insect bee stands out on the logo of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, despite "Bee" being unrelated to the name of the insect. "Bee" refers to "a gathering", where people join together in an activity. The National Spelling Bee was formed in 1925 as a collection of many local spelling bees,organized by Louisville. With competitions, cash prizes, and a trip to the nation's capital, it was hoped the Bee would _ "general interest among pupils in a dull subject". Mark Neuhauser won the first National Spelling Bee held that year, by successfully spelling "gladiolus".In 2014,there were two winners of the Bee--a conclusion that has only happened three other times in Bee history, and not since 1962. Sriram Hathwar, a 14yearold from New York and Ansun Sujoe, a 13yearold from Texas shared the excitement as cochampions after 22 rounds of spelling. Each took home over $30,000 in cash, scholarships and bonds. The Spelling Bee has been held every year except for 19431945 due to World War II.Later, the Scripps Company acquired the rights to the program in 1941. The bee is held in late May or early June of each year.It is open to students who have not yet completed the eighth grade, reached their 15th birthday, nor won a previous National Spelling Bee.Its goal is educational:not only to encourage children to perfect the art of spelling, but also to help enlarge their vocabularies and widen their knowledge of the English language. We can conclude from the text that _ . A. Ansun is allowed to take part in the Bee again if he likes B. the goal of the Bee is more commercial than educational C. the Bee has already been held for ninety times D. the first prize has been shared four times in Bee history Answer: D COURSE: History 101 "Instruction to American History" INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Jane Klammer OFFICE: 305 Marshall Hall OFFICE HOURS: 11:15 -12:30 M, W, F, (Monday Wednesday Friday) CLASS: 363 Marshall Hall 3:35 -5:00 T, Th (Tuesday Thursday) 10:00-11:00 M, W, F, other times by appointment TELEPHONE: 255---4786 TEXTBOOK: Green, Robert P. ,The American Tradition; Charles E. A History of the United States, Merrill Publishing Co. Columbus, Ohio 1984 which is available (that can be obtained) at the College Bookstore. COURSE REQUIREMENT: (something needed) mid-term exam: October 10 20% of the final grade final exam: December 10 40% of the final grade Term paper due: December 15 40% of the final grade Attendance is not required, but you are responsible for all the information given in the class lectures. In the lectures I will talk about the chapters in the textbook and other material that I choose to supplement the course. The exams will cover all the information. Therefore, I advise you to come to the classroom as much as possible. If you have to miss a class, be sure to get the class notes from another student. Your homework assignments are listed on the next page. You are supposed to read the chapter about which I will be lecturing before you come to class. This is to make sure that you understand as much as possible while taking notes in my lectures. Be prepared when you come to class. If there are any changes in the assigned homework, I will announce in class. The term paper is 40% of your final grade. It should not exceed15 pages. (Anyone thinking of majoring in history may write 25 pages). Before the mid-term exam you will choose the topic for your paper. Have a good term! How does a student know what the homework assignments are? _ . A. Pro. Klammer announces them in class B. The students read the list on the next page C. Pro. Klammer gives a list every week D. The students go to the professor's office Answer: B
It seems that women and beauty go together. I think so. Look around yourself. Fashion ads are almost everywhere. Whether they have realized or not, a sea of. fashion is all around women. They are made to think that without beautiful clothes they will look old and lose their charm . So who doesn't want to dress up to be beautiful and young? But I don't agree with the opinion that women have to show their beauty through their looks. Their mind can be more beautiful and attractive than their looks. A woman has experienced many troubles and may be called "aunt", but she can still be beautiful if she has excellent qualities like knowledge, a kind heart and great courage . What's more,old and young, beautiful and ugly are relative. People who keep a young mind will never feel old. Knowing about new things and wanting to learn more,they can keep up with fashion. Simply dressed women are also beautiful in their own way. Reading and learning is the best way to keep one young. Good books can feed the flower of one's heart and looks. Why does the writer say that women and beauty go together ? Answer: Because women try to keep their beauty by dressing up. A new study finds that the animal known as man's best friend can also be a good friend to the heart. Researchers in California say they have found that even just a short visit with a dog helped ease the worries of heart patients. The study divided the patients into three groups. In Group A, a dog and a person visited each patient for twelve minutes. Patients in Group B received just a human visitor for twelve minutes. And members of Group C received no visitor, human or canine . The dogs would lie on the hospital bed so the heart patients could touch them. The researchers say some patients immediately smiled and talked to the dog and the human visitor. Dogs, in her words, "make people happier, calmer and feel more loved." The researchers examined the patients before, during and after the visits. They measured stress levels based on blood flow and heart activity. They say they found a twenty-four percent decrease in the group visited by both a dog and a person. They reported a ten percent decrease in the group visited by a person only. There was no change in the patients without any visit. These patients, however, did have an increase in their production of the hormone epinephrine (epinephrine). The body produces epinephrine during times of stress. The increase was an average of seven percent. But the study found that patients who spent time with a dog had a seventeen percent drop in their levels of epinephrine. Patients visited by a human but not a dog also had a decrease, but only two percent. Which of the following is the best title for the passage? Answer: Good Friend to the Heart When people first walked across the Bering Land Bridge thousands of years ago, dogs were by their sides, according to a study published in the journal Science. Robert Wayne of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Jennifer Leonard of the Smithsonian Institute, used DNA material--some of it unearthed by miners in Alaska--to conclude that today's domestic dog originated in Asia and accompanied the first humans to the New World about 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. Wayne suggests that man's best friend may have enabled the tough journey from Asia into North America. "Dogs may have been the reason people made it across the land bridge," said Wayne. "They can pull things, carry things, defend you from fierce animals, and they're useful to eat." Researchers have agreed that today's dog is the result of the domestication of wolves thousands of years ago. Before this recent study, a common thought about the precise origin of North America's domestic dog was that Natives domesticated local wolves, the descendents of which now live with people in Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48. Dog _ from a Fairbanks-area gold mine helped the scientists reach their conclusion. Leonard, an evolutionary biologist, collected DNA from 11 bones of ancient dogs that were locked in permafrost until Fairbanks miners uncovered them in the 1920s. The miners donated the preserved bones to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where they remained untouched for more than 70 years. After borrowing the bones from the museum, Leonard and her colleagues used radiocarbon techniques to find the age of the Alaska dogs. They found the dogs all lived between the years of 1450 and 1675 A.D., before Vitus Bering and Aleksey Chirikov who were the first known Europeans to view Alaska in 1741. The bones of dogs that wandered the Fairbanks area centuries ago should therefore be the remains of "pure native American dogs," Leonard said. The DNA of the Fairbanks dogs would also expose whether they were the descendents of wolves from North America. Along with the Fairbanks samples, the researchers collected DNA from bones of 37 dog specimens from Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia that existed before the arrival of Columbus. In the case of both the Alaska dogs and the dogs from Latin America, the researchers found that they shared the most genetic material with gray wolves of Europe and Asia. This supports the idea of domestic dogs entering the New World with the first human explorers who wandered east over the land bridge. Leonard and Wayne's study suggests that dogs joined the first humans that made the adventure across the Bering Land Bridge to slowly populate the Americas. Wayne thinks the dogs that made the trip must have provided some excellent service to their human companions or they would not have been brought along. "Dogs must have been useful because they were expensive to keep," Wayne said. "They didn't feed on mice; they fed on meat, which was a very guarded resource." The first humans into the New World brought dogs along with them because _ . Answer: dogs could provide excellent service A poor farmer had never left his small village. After he made a lot of money, he decided to spend a holiday in an excellent hotel in a big town. When lunchtime came on his first day there, he went to eat it in the restaurant of the hotel in his new clothes. The headwaiter showed him to the table, took his order and went away. When he returned and looked at the farmer again, he was surprised. The farmer had tied his table cloth round his neck. The headwaiter immediately told another waiter to go to the farmer and tell him that people mustn't do such a thing in his restaurant. So the waiter went to the farmer and said in a friendly voice, "Good morning, Sir. Would you like a haircut.?" Why do you think the farmer tied the cloth round his neck? _ . Answer: He didn't want to make his clothes dirty Difference John and Bobby joined a company at the same time . They both worked very hard . After several years , Bobby became the manager , but John thought it was unfair , so he gave his resignation to the boss . When the boss found out the reason why John wanted to leave , he said , "I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave . " John agreed . The boss asked him to find out if anyone was selling watermelons at the market . John went and soon returned . He said he had found a man selling watermelons . The boss asked him how much they were . John shook his head and went back to the market . When he returned , he told the boss they were $ 1.2 per kg . Then the boss asked Bobby to find a watermelon seller at the market . Bobby went , returned and said , "Only one person is selling watermelons . $ 1.2 per kg , 340 melons in all , and each melon weighs about 2 kg . They are fresh . " John realized the difference between himself and Bobby . He decided not to leave but to learn from Bobby. John and Bobby were _ . Answer: workmates
Scientists have created a " human-like robot" that can dance and do the housework. " Mahru" has been developed to imitate humans and can move its lips, eyebrows and pupils . The machine can also move its upper and lower body freely and automatically stop itself when walking. In addition, it has been programmed to give out two kinds of pleasant smells to match its emotions. The 1.5 tall robot was produced by researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and is the first South Korean- developed machine of its kind. "'Mahru' will open the way for the commercial use of humanoid robots doing housework," You Bum-Jae, leader of the development research team ,said. "'Mahru' can dance while walking on its legs and is able to work in place of a human." Through an advanced motion capture system, "Mahru" can follow a variety of human movements and move its hands freely enough to deal with any obstacles that may get in its way when walking. State-funded KIST showed the robot during a presentation at its head office in Seoul. People here were treated to an entertaining demonstration which saw the robot show off the full range of its skills, most notably s series of dance moves. The research team added that they had designed another " Mahru", this time with sensors allowing it to distinguish between faces and objects. The showing of " Mahru" came a week after researcher in Japan said they had created the "most human-like" robot in the world. A team at robotics department of Osaka University in Japan claimed that " robogirl", Repliee R-1, " looks, moves and interacts like a human, and has silicone skin that feels almost human to the touch." The passage is probably a _ . A news report B research report C healthy report D entertainment report Answer: A. news report One day a rich boy bought a magic mirror . When he got home, he looked in the mirror. His face looked sad. He tried to smile , his face looked still sad. The he did many happy things, but his face always looked sad. " Oh, what a terrible mirror! It doesn't work!" he said angrily. The next day on his way to buy some chocolate, he saw a little girl crying sadly. The rich boy went up to her and asked what had happened. The little girl said she couldn't find her parents. "Don't worry. I'll help you." The rich boy said. So they went to look for them together. Finally they found her parents. They were so thankful for his help . After the rich boy arrived home, he looked in the mirror as usual. To his surprise,his face looked very happy. The boy understood the magic of the mirror. The mirror could show the true feelings of its owner. This was true--the rich boy had helped that little girl so he felt really happy. The boy's face always looked _ in the mirror on the first day. A happy B sad C terrible D funny Answer: B. sad Bats are the only flying mammal in the world. They can't see very well. It is long believed, in many places, that all bats are blind . "Blind as a bat" is often heard. Yet they have no trouble flying in the darkest nights and finding their way around. How can bats fly and see at night? They fly by radar . The bat's radar system works the same way as the one that ships and planes use. When a bat flies through the air, it makes sounds that people can't hear. If the sounds hit things, they will come back. The bat's ears can receive the messages. In this way it can know where the things are. Bats go out to look for food at night. In the daytime they stay in some dark places. Some people think bats are bad animals. In fact, they are useful animals. When does the bat begin to go out to look for food? A In the daytime. B In the early morning. C At night. D In the late afternoon. Answer: C. At night. Frankly, I very much appreciate myself. Yes, I admit I'm in many respects not as good as other people, but I don't think I'm always not good. When I find what I've done or written is okay, I'll remain pleased with myself for quite a few days, and in case I receive praise for it, I'll even become so excited as to add a few words to glorify myself. True, I'm not modest at all. People may call me conceited . But I think otherwise. I also appreciate other people. I appreciate anything good. Isn't it unfair to forget appreciating myself while appreciating others? We Chinese generally tend to be modest, and we take pride in being so. For example, a Chinese will call his own wife zhuojing, meaning "my humble wife", and his own writings zhuozuo, meaning "my poor writings". But if you should call his wife a "rustic woman" or his writings "trash", he would, I'm sure, slap the table in a rage and declare he would make a clean break with you. As a matter of fact, there is probably no difference at all between what is said by him and you respectively. I don't think it's wrong for you to freely praise yourself if you're really worthy of praise. As we know, there is an old Chinese saying disparaging a melon peddler , named Lao Wang, who keeps praising his own goods. Well, why can't he praise his melons if they are really sweet and juicy? Friends, Lao Wang sells melons for a living. How could he carry on business if he, by imitating the affectations of us intellectuals, were to show false modesty about his melons? He would sure enough die of starvation. Self-appreciation is therefore key to professional dedication and enjoyment of work. One will lose confidence in continuing with writing when he pauses to admire his own essays. Needless to say, the same is true of those who make a living with their pen. The best title for the passage would be _ . A On Self-Appreciation B Types of Appreciation C Power of Appreciation D Uses of Appreciation Answer: A. On Self-Appreciation Not so long ago, most people didn't know who Shelly Ann Francis Pryce was going to become. She was just an average high school athlete. There was every indication that she was just another American teenager without much of a future. However, one person wants to change this. Stephen Francis observed then eighteen-year-old Shelly Ann as a track meet and was convinced that he had seen the beginning of true greatness. Her time were not exactly impressive, but even so, he seemed there was something trying to get out, something the other coaches had overlooked when they had assessed her and found her lacking. He decided to offer Shelly Ann a place in his very strict training seasons. Their cooperation quickly produced results, and a few year later at Jamaica's Olympic games in early 2008, Shelly Ann, who at that time only ranked number 70 in the world, beat Jamaica's unchallenged queen of the sprint . "Where did she come from?" asked an astonished sprinting world, before concluding that she must be one of those one-hit wonders that spring up from time to time, only to disappear again without signs. But Shelly Ann was to prove that she was anything but a one-hit wonder. At the Beijing Olympic she swept away any doubts about her ability to perform consistently by becoming the first Jamaican woman ever to win the 100 meters Olympic gold. She did it again one year on at the World Championship in Briton, becoming world champion with a time of 10.73--- the fourth record ever. Shelly-Ann is a little woman with a big smile. She has a mental toughness that did not come about by chance. Her journey to becoming the fastest woman on earth has been anything but smooth and effortless. She grew up in one of Jamaica's toughest inner-city communities known as Waterhouse, where she lived in a one-room apartment, sleeping four in a bed with her mother and two brothers. Waterhouse, one of the poorest communities in Jamaica, is a really violent and overpopulated place. Several of Shelly-Ann's friends and family were caught up in the killings; one of her cousins was shot dead only a few streets away from where she lived. Sometimes her family didn't have enough to eat. She ran at the school championships barefooted because she couldn't afford shoes. Her mother Maxime, one of a family of fourteen, had been an athlete herself as a young girl but, like so many other girls in Waterhouse, had to stop after she had her first baby. Maxime's early entry into the adult world with its responsibilities gave her the determination to ensure that her kids would not end up in Waterhouse's roundabout of poverty. One of the first things Maxime used to do with Shelly-Ann was taking her to the track, and she was ready to sacrifice everything. It didn't take long for Shelly-Ann to realize that sports could be her way out of Waterhouse. On a summer evening in Beijing in 2008, all those long, hard hours of work and commitment finally bore fruit. The barefoot kid who just a few years previously had been living in poverty, surrounded by criminals and violence, had written a new chapter in the history of sports. But Shelly-Ann's victory was far greater than that. The night she won Olympic gold in Beijing, the routine murders in Waterhouse and the drug wars in the neighbouring streets stopped. The dark cloud above one of the world's toughest criminal neighbourhoods simply disappeared for a few days. " I have so much fire burning for my country,"Shelly said. She plans to start a foundation for homeless children and wants to build a community centre in Waterhouse. She hopes to inspire the Jamaicans to lay down their weapons. She intends to fight to make it a woman's as well as a man's world. As Muhammad Ali puts it, " Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision." One of the things Shelly-Ann can be proud of is her understanding of this truth. What did the sprinting world think of Shelly-Ann before the 2008 Olympic Games? A She would become a promising star. B She badly needed to set higher goals. C Her sprinting career would not last long. D Her talent for sprinting was known to all. Answer: C. Her sprinting career would not last long.
Question: Mr. Smith drives his car to meet his friends at the station. When he finds there is still quite some time to go before the train arrives, he wants to take a short sleep. He is going to sleep when a young lady comes and asks him the time. Mr. Smith opens his eyes and answers, "Half past eight." With a "Thank you" the woman leaves. In a short time, this happens three more times, so Mr. Smith writes "I don't know the time!" on a piece of paper and puts it on the window of his car. But only a few minutes later, an old man comes and wakes him up. "Hi, young man. I can tell you the time. It's nine o' clock." After he arrives at the station, he wants to _ . A. tell the time B. have a short sleep C. ask the time D. chat with others Answer: B. have a short sleep Question: With only fish and birds for company, Eric Erden has been rowing across the Pacific Ocean to Australia in his 23-foot-long boat since he left California on July 10, 2009. This is the first part of Eric's trip around the world using only his own energy. He will row, bike, and walk without help from any motors at all. His plan includes climbing the tallest mountain on each of the six continents he visits, to honour the memory of a fellow climber. He says he is doing this to show kids that they can achieve any goal, but he also hopes to have some great adventures along the way. Storms and huge waves regularly force him in the wrong direction and even threaten to overturn his boat. "Sometimes I really feel scared," says a somewhat embarrassed Eric. "But that's part of the journey. I knew this wouldn't be easy when I started." Protein bars give him energy, and he boils water to heat freeze-dried meals on a one-burner stove. A sun-powered machine removes salt from ocean water so he can drink it, but when that fails he sometimes tries to collect rainwater in a bucket. He's not bothered by any of the hardships. Eric sees the world as a laboratory where there is much to learn. And when his trip around the world takes him across land, he enjoys meeting people -- especially children. He has already visited several schools and shared his story. What does Eric plan to do on each of the six continents he will visit? A. Visit schools to share his story. B. Study the culture of the local people. C. Climb the tallest mountain. D. Cycle from one end to the other. Answer: C. Climb the tallest mountain. Question: Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries may speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes. The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English. The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check this in a dictionary. The writer thinks that _ . A. choose a good dictionary, and you'll be successful in learning English B. dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English C. it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly D. using dictionaries very often can't help to improve writing Answer: C. it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly Question: European Day of Languages falls on 26 September. BBC News Online reported the attitudes across several European Union countries to languages. Tamsin Smith, Rome, Italy Italians place very high importance on learning languages, particularly English. Twenty years ago it was quite difficult to find an English speaker here but today it is quite easy. The strong influence of American and English culture helps young people to learn the English language. They often become familiar with it through "Harry Potter" books or Disney movies. English schools, where Italian children are taught all their lessons in English, are also becoming popular among rich Italians. Lucien Libert, Paris, France Languages are very important in France. A good knowledge of the English language is necessary for many Frenchmen to get a good job and the more languages you can learn, the better. English is the first language you learn in school and you start very young. Most people have at least eight years of learning English at school. Learning German or Spanish comes next and Latin is also taught in most schools. While French people learn languages, there is also a movement to protect the French language. James Helm, Dublin, Ireland The English language predominates in Ireland, but the ancient Irish language is a lasting source of pride and interest, and it remains a living tongue that is used in several areas. School are required to teach ancient Irish, and most students learn it as part of the subjects. There is a continuing discussion about how to protect the language best. In recent years some primary schools have introduced foreign language classes for younger students, and the Irish government has tried to encourage schools to offer more languages such as French, Spanish, German and Italian. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Tamsin Smith? A. English learning in Italy has been popular for more than a century. B. Some popular books and movies help young Italian people with their English a lot. C. Only children from rich families like to learn English in Italy. D. More and more Italian children have given up learning their mother tongue. Answer: B. Some popular books and movies help young Italian people with their English a lot. Question: Every winter the Indians caught beavers .They sold these beaver furs to men from France. In the 1600s and 1700s,people in France wanted beaver furs for coats and hats. Other countries wanted these furs, too . Wearing a beaver fur hat became a sign .It said ,"Look at this man! This man is rich!" In the 1800s,men in this country began to wear beaver hats. They too, wanted to wear the sign that said," Look at those men! They are rich!" Soon it was hard to find beavers. To get more beaver furs, traders had to move West. Traders began to explore this new country. They came back with wonderful stories about the new land. Before long, many people wanted to go West to live. Where people go, towns grow. Soon there were new towns in the West. Men looking for beaver for fancy(,) hats helped the West grow. Wearing a beaver hat was a sign that a man was _ . A. a hunter B. rich C. a trader D. an Indian Answer: B. rich
Question: How hard we have all prayed to grow up quickly, and looked forward to the happy days of being a grown-up and enjoying the many interests that a youth should have. At last, you have grown up. At least you are no longer a child. They call you "young lady". You then enjoy the pleasure of being a young lady. You are proud of being a grown-up teenager. People welcome you-this young lady-heartily. You are glad that your prayer has been answered. But there is always something that troubles you a lot. You say; "Papa and Mama, give me some money please. My pocket money is all gone already." "No", they say, "your age is a dangerous age. If you have too much money to spend, it won't do you any good." Then you have to stay at home because you dare not go out with an empty pocket. Another time you tell your grandma, "Grandma, see, I am a grown-up now." "Good, now, you can sit here and knit this for me while I go and have a rest." To show that you are no more a child, you have to sit there the whole afternoon doing the work, which only a grown-up can do. After an hour, you find it hard to do, and give the knitting basket back to your grandma. Your grandma criticizes your work. You hear what she says, "Such a big girl can't do such easy work." You wish then you were a child again. But the fact is, you are growing up, and you can't help it. That's the way it goes! From what her parents say, we know _ . A. they still regard her as a child B. they don't want her to spend money C. it's dangerous for a girl to spend money D. they love her more than before Answer: A. they still regard her as a child Question: When you sit in the classroom, do you suddenly feel that summer flew by so quickly? I'm still thinking about taking walks in the park and meeting my friends at night. But I know that the school season is beginning. And homework, tests and routine all come with it. When I stay in my room and write my homework, I often look out of the window and look back at this summer. In the past two months of summer break, I spent many evenings in my backyard. I listened to my parents telling stories about their childhood. My brother caught fireflies . Once in a while, we made a barbecue and ate chicken and corn. Now I'm back to school. It's difficult to find time to do everything that I want to do, like dancing, reading, and sleeping. How I hope to have another break in my studies! I could read a fun book instead of the boring ones that we have to read for English class. Still, I should not feel sad. Summer gave me time to relax, good memories, laughter, and the experience of new friendships. But without school, I would never appreciate the happy moments in summer and the responsibilities that I have now. What's more, there are only 10 more months to go until summer comes again. And in the meantime, I can have lots of fun with my friends as we begin our high school experience together. The article is written _ . A. during the summer break B. in an English class C. in the classroom D. at the beginning of a school season Answer: D. at the beginning of a school season Question: Jane arrives at Thornfield, having been met at the George Inn. Mrs. Fairfax confuses her a little at first, because _ is so informal and welcoming. But in due course Jane discovers that Mrs. Fairfax is the housekeeper. Jane's pupil, Adele Varens, is the eight-year-old French child under the legal protection of Mr. Edward Rochester, the owner of the house. (We learn later that her mother had claimed she was his illegitimate daughter. Mr. Rochester is not convinced by this claim, but felt he could not leave the little girl poor when her mother died.) Adele is a pleasant little girl, even if she is not a particularly eager student. Life goes on very peacefully for three months, until the return of Mr. Rochester. Jane first meets him on his horse, and her description of him is quite fanciful. He takes a fall and Jane helps him, although she does not know who he is until they are both back at Thornfield. It is obvious to the reader, although not to Jane, that the reason why Mr. Rochester stays at Thornfield much longer than usual is that he finds her company enjoyable. Jane, unknowingly at first, falls in love with him. Their closeness is very apparent. There is something about Thornfield that is mysterious. Jane is encouraged to focus her attention on the servant Grace Poole, who is Mr. Rochester's mad wife Bertha Mason's keeper at Thornfield, and whose drunken carelessness frequently allows Bertha to escape and do something violent. It is clear to the reader, though, that Mr. Rochester's emotional engagement is immense. When his bed is set on fire, Jane rescues him, but does not understand why the matter is not pursued, despite Mr. Rochester assuring her the criminal is Grace. The next morning Grace behaves as though she has done nothing wrong. Eventually, Mr. Rochester leaves, to go to a house party. He brings everyone at the party back with him, transforming the atmosphere in the house, and delighting Adele. One of the guests is Blanche Ingram, whom Mr. Rochester is confidently expected to marry. However, it is clear from the way she is portrayed in the book that she is too proud; our sympathies are not with her. Mr. Rochester is called away from the house, and when he returns he chooses to play the role of a fortune teller. It is clear to the reader that one of his motives is to try to turn Blanche against the idea of marriage to him. While he has clearly bothered her, he is unsuccessful. One afternoon, Jane hears that her cousin John Reed is dead and Mrs. Reed, who is probably on her deathbed, has been asking for her. With strict instructions from Mr. Rochester to return quickly, she sets off to Gateshead. On arrival, she realizes she no longer hates her cousins. However, Mrs. Reed is still bitter towards her, owing to the fact that Jane's mother was Mr Reed's favourite sister and this resulted in him apparently favouring Jane over his own children. A short time later, Mrs. Reed gives Jane a letter from her uncle, John Eyre, that was written three years earlier. It explains how he planned to adopt Jane and allow her to inherit his fortune. Mrs. Reed never handed the letter over because of her bitterness. Jane tries once more to seek reconciliation , but without success; her aunt dies that night. The story of Adele Varens mainly indicates that _ . A. women have a low social status B. Mr. Rochester is sympathetic C. Mr. Rochester is irresponsible D. girls are often abandoned by their parents Answer: B. Mr. Rochester is sympathetic Question: QQ is one of the most popular chat tools among teenagers. We regard it as an important chat tool in our dailylife because it has some advantages. First, we can make lots of e-friends on QQ. It is easy to find the person who has the same interest as us, and we can talk with him or her happily. Second, we can also join a QQ group to find the information we need. For example, if we want to learn English well, we can choose a group with many English lovers in it. Third, we can also play games with our friends on QQ and always have fun. QQ brings us a lot of benefits , but it can also cause some problems. It's dangerous to tell strangers on QQ our real personal information like telephone number, address and ID number. If we spend too much time chatting online, it won't be good for our study and health. Sometimes QQ may bring us some _ if we don't use it well. A. problems B. benefits C. interests D. fun Answer: A. problems Question: Have you ever thought of joining a book club and buying new books through the post? Here at the International Book Club, we already have many members buying books from us by mail. Immediate benefits: As a special offer, you may choose any reduced-price books from our new members' book list, to the value of $6 in total (plus postage and packing). By doing this, you will save pounds on the publishers' prices. Tick the box on your form to order a free watch. If you reply within seven days, we will send you another free gift carefully chosen from our book list by our staff. Order a DVD from the many on offer in our list, at half the recommended retail price. *When you've joined: As a member, you'll enjoy savings of between 30% and 50% off the publisher's price on every book you buy, and what's more, they'll come straight to your door. Your free club magazine arrives once a month, to keep you up-to-date with the latest bestsellers. This means that every year we offer over 1,000 books to choose from. On the Internet, you can find all our titles for the year on our exclusive members' website. Being a member: All we are asking you to do while you are a member is to choose four books during your first year. After that, you can decide on the number of books you wish to take. In each of our monthly club magazines, our experienced staff choose a Club Choice book -- a work of fiction or a reference title which they feel is particularly worth buying, and which is offered at an extra-special price. However, if you do not want this book, just say so in the space provided on the form. We will always send the book if we do not receive this. So, return your application form today, but hurry -- it's not every day we can make you an offer like this. To apply to become a member, all you need to do is simply fill in the enclosed form and return it in the envelope supplied. Before you know it, your books will be with you. Please don't send any money now, as we will send you your bill with the books. And remember, you have up to a fortnight to decide if you wish to keep the books you have ordered. You should then either return the books or send your payment. Which of the following doesn't belong to the benefits of being a club member? A. Order a free watch. B. Get a gift for nothing. C. Get four books for free in the first year D. Order a DVD at a low price. Answer: C. Get four books for free in the first year
Louis Pasteur found a way to Answer: make food healthier One afternoon, four black youths walked into a restaurant that served "whites" only. They sat down and ordered bread and milk. The white waiter just said "We don't serve blacks". The young men did not move. They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around. The manager was called. When he saw the angry look in their eyes, he said that he was sorry, but it was not possible to serve them. The next day, more young black people came, and even more came the day after to the restaurant. Then a gang of white youths came in and attacked them. Most of the blacks were beaten up and were black and blue all over. After that the police rushed in, the several people were put in prison---all of them were black, although they had not done anything wrong---just because they were black. The news spread quickly through the black living areas in the city. A large crowd held a meeting round the restaurant the following day, forcing the restaurant to shut. Young men, black and white, made speeches protesting against segregation and pointing out that black people only wanted to live a life in the same way that whites did. They gave out leaflets and soon the movement spread to other cities. Business became so bad at that particular restaurant that the owners were forced to give and served blacks. Nowadays, all the blacks are served in all restaurants open to the public in America. The manager said that he was sorry because _ . Answer: he found the four blacks were very angry London--A morning's train ride away, across the Channel, English kids talk about Liverpool's soccer team in a Paris puB.Some Parisians have even started to go to work in London.In the 19thcentury, Charles Dickens compared the two great rival cities, London and Paris, in " A Tale of Two Cities".These days, it might be A Tale of One City. Parisians are these days likely to smile in sympathy at a visitor's broken French and respond in polite English.As jobs grew lack at home over recent years, perhaps 250,000 Frenchmen moved across the Channel.With an undersea tunnel, they could travel between cities in three hours.The European Union freed them from immigration and customs. Paris, rich in beauty, is more attractive.But London feels more full of life, and more fun until the pubs shut down. "For me, the difference is that London is real, alive," said Trevor Wheeler, a banker. Chantal Jaouen, a professional designer, agrees."I am French, but I'll stay in London," she saiD. There is, of course, the other view.Julie Lenoux is a student who moved to London two years ago."I think people laugh more in Paris," she saiD. In fact, London and Paris, with their obvious new similarities, are beyond the old descriptions.As the European Union gradually loosened controls, Londoners _ into Paris to shop, eat and buy property . "Both cities have changed beyond recognition." Said Larry Collins, a writer and sometimes a Londoner.Like most people who know both well, he finds the two now fit together comfortably. "I first fell in love with Paris in the 1950s and it is still a wonderful place," Collins saiD."But if I had to choose, it would be London.Things are so much more ordered, and life is better." But certainly not cheaper.In fancy parts of London, rents can be twice those on Avenue Foch in Paris.Deciding between London and Paris requires a lifestyle choice. Like Daphne Benoit, a French journalism student with perfect English, many young people are happy to be close enough so they don't have to choose. "I love Paris, my little neighborhood, the way I can walk around a centre, but life is so structured," she saiD."In London, you can be who you want.No one cares." Living in Paris, you may find _ Answer: things are cheaper Which two body systems are involved in inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide? Answer: circulatory and respiratory My father's reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York city was immediate and definite: "You won't catch me putting my money in there!" he declared, "Not in that glass box!" Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money. In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity that could be carried, or stolen. Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a building's design made it appear impenetrable , the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol reflected people's prevailing attitude toward money. But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a has largely been replaced by credit. A deficit economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavy-walled bank. Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion begins. 36. The main idea of this passage is that _ . Answer: changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept of banks
American teenager Thomas Cheatham had planned to study Latin during his sophomore year at Hebron High School in Texas. But when he learned that the school district was going to offer a Mandarin class, he quickly changed his mind. "I thought it (Mandarin) would be more beneficial than Latin," said Cheatham, who is now in his second year of studying the language. He speaks Mandarin to order food at Chinese restaurants and can read Face book posts from his Chinese-speaking friends. While it'a difficult language to master, the high school junior, who plans to study computer engineering, thinks it will be a valuable thing in his career. "Chinese is a good language to know, especially with China becoming a growing power," he said. Many experts agree that proficiency in a language spoken by a billion people worldwide will give American students an edge in the global economy. "People are looking at China as our next economic competitor, and interest in Mandarin is growing,'' said Marty Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. ''We're seeing it in all parts of the country." The number of students studying Mandarin in public schools nationwide in grades 7 through 12 grew from 20,000 in 2004-2005 to 60,000 three years later, according to the council's most recent survey. Abbott estimates that as many as 100,000 students are now studying Mandarin, in public and private schools, throughout the nation. She said the US government has considered Mandarin to be an "important needs" language and provides professional development programs for teachers. "Our government wants to increase our language ability for national security and economic competitiveness," Abbott said. At the same time, the Chinese government is spreading knowledge of the Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes established in many states. The Confucius Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas, founded in 2007, opens Confucius Classrooms at 11 local public and private schools where more than 700 students are learning Mandarin. What does the passage mainly talk about? A. An increasing number of students in America are learning Mandarin. B. Confucius Institutes have been established in many states in America. C. Latin is less popular in America now. D. China now is becoming a growing power. Answer: A A driver stopped his car on a street side to have a rest.As he lay down in the seat and closed his eyes, a person came up and knocked at the window to ask the time. The driver opened his eyes and looked at his watch. "It's five past eight." he said. Then he went to sleep again. But soon he was waken up again because a second person was knocking at the window."Excuse me, what time is it now?"he asked. The driver looked at his watch again, and told him it was half past eight. In this way, the driver thought he couldn't have a good rest, so he wrote a short note and stuck it on the window for all to see. It said,"I don't know the time."Again, he lay down in the seat for his sleep. A few minutes later,a third person came and began to knock at the window, "Hey, sir."he said, "It's a quarter to nine." The third person knocked at the window to _ . A. ask him the time B. ask him not to sleep C. see if the driver was sleeping D. tell him what time it was Answer: D This is a true story from Guyana. One day, a boy took a piece of paper from a box. He made a paper ball and pushed it into his nose. He couldn't get it out. He ran crying to his mother. His mother couldn't get the paper out, either. A week later, the paper was still in the boy's nose. His nose began to have a bad smell. So his mother took the boy to a hospital. The doctor looked up at the child's nose, but she couldn't get the paper out. She said she had to cut the boy's nose to get the paper out. The boy's mother came home looking sad. She didn't want her child to have his nose cut. The next day she took the boy to her friend Sidney who lived in a house with an old lady called May. May wanted to see the child, so the child let her look up his nose. "Yes, I can see it," May said. "It will be out soon." As she spoke, she shook some black pepper on the child's nose. The child gave a mighty sneeze and the paper flew out. His mother was surprised. May told his mother to take the boy to the seaside for a swim, for the salt water would go up his nose and stop the bad smell. So the lucky boy didn't have to go to the hospital to have his nose cut. The paper ball stayed in the boy's nose for _ . A. at most seven days B. less than seven days C. more than seven days D. exactly seven days, Answer: C Which of the following events during meiosis contributes most to the variation within a species? A. pairing of chromosomes B. creation of haploid gametes C. segregation of alleles D. separation of chromatids Answer: C Kincaid looked at his watch: eight-seventeen. The truck started on the second try, and he backed out, shifted gears, and moved slowly down the alley under hazy sun. Through the streets of Bellingham he went, heading south on Washington 11, running along the coast of Puget Sound for a few miles, then following the highway as it swung east a little before meeting U.S Route 20. Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. He liked this country and felt unstressed stopping now and then to make notes about interesting possibilities for future expeditions or to shoot what he called "memory snapshots." The purpose of these causal photographs was to remind him of places he might want to visit again and approach more seriously. In later afternoon he turned north at Spokane, picking up U.S. Route 2, which would take him halfway across the northern United States to Duluth, Minnesota. He wished for the thousandth time in his life that he had a dog, a golden retriever, maybe, for travels like this and to keep him company at home. But he was frequently away; overseas much of the time and it would not be fair to the animal. Still, he thought about it anyway. In a few years he would be getting too old for the hard fieldwork. "I must get a dog then." He said to himself. Drives like this always put him into a sentimental mood. The dog was part of it. Robert Kincaid was alone as it's possible to be--an only child, parents both dead, distant s who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends. He thought about Marian. She had left him nine years ago after five years of marriage. He was fifty-two now, that would make her just under forty. Marian had dreams of becoming a musician, a folksinger. She knew all of the Weavers' songs and sang them pretty well in the coffeehouse of Seattle. When he was home in the old days, he drove her to the shows and sat in the audience while she sang. His long absences--two or three months sometimes--were hard on the marriage. He knew that. She was aware of what he did when they decided to get married, and both of them had a vague(not clear) sense that it could all be handled somehow. It couldn't when he came from photographing a story in Iceland and, she was gone. The note read, "Robert, it didn't work out, I left you the Harmony guitar. Stay in touch." He didn't stay in touch, neither did she. He's signed the divorce papers when they arrived a year later and caught a plane for Australia the next day. She had asked for nothing except her freedom. Which statement is true according to the passage? A. Kincaid's parents were dead and he only kept in touch with some distant s. B. Kincaid would have had a dog if he hadn't been away from home too much. C. Kincaid used to have a golden retriever. D. Kincaid needed a dog in doing his hard fieldwork. Answer: B
US track star Marion Jones owned a trophy case filled with medals. She had worldwide fame. She held the high honor of being the first female track and field athlete to win five medals at an Olympics -- the 2000 Sydney Games. But last Friday, the 31-year-old track star tearfully confessed that she had lied to fans, sports official and US federal agents about taking steroids. The five Olympic medals in her trophy case? Gone. Meaningless. The worldwide fame? Exchanged for infamy. The honor of being the first female track and field athlete to win five medals at an Olympics? Forgotten, wiped off the record books. "It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust." Jones confessed. She'd posed for pictures with fans. She'd attended parties and talked about her accomplishments. But for years she'd slept --- or tried to sleep -- knowing that much of what she had done was built on a lie. Now, finally, she'd decided to tell the truth. "If she had trusted her own natural gifts and allied them to self-sacrifice and hard work, I sincerely believe that she could have been an honest champion at the Sydney Games." IAAF President Lamine Diack said over the weekend. "Instead, Mario Jones will be remembered as one of the biggest frauds in sporting history." Sadly, she won't be the last. There are still others lurking behind their trophies. They too appear to have everything. They're superstars, the envy of every young person who has played a sport. But for how long? And at what cost? Every time they look at their trophies and medals they remember that the awards really belong to someone else. The main character in this passage is _ . Answer: Marion Jones English is spoken as a first language by most people in the USA, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada. However, English is spoken all over the world. It is the main language in over 60 countries, such as India, Singapore and in many of the Caribbean and Pacific islands. In those places English is often a second language. English is also as an important international language in many other countries, like China and Japan. People in these countries use it for business, and travelers to these countries use English when they get there. Other people may learn English because they enjoy reading books in English, listening to British or American music or watching American films. English has changed a lot these years and still goes on changing. It is no longer right to talk about British English or American English if the speaker doesn't come from those countries. People in Japan or Korea, for example, may use the American spelling but may not sound like Americans. English will be the most widely used language in the world in the 21stcentury. This language no longer belongs to British, American or Australian speakers. It belongs to anyone who can use this language. After you leave school, you will almost certainly need it. People from other countries learn English for _ . Answer: Both B and C If you want to watch TV it must first have Answer: been plugged in if a man's new car can be charged at a charging station, what is this termed? Answer: all of these I had always had fun playing in the dirt growing up, digging, throwing, building, smashing, everything, so this year for my birthday my mom and dad had bought me a gardening kit to grow my own vegetables. It came with a watering pot, a shovel, a rake and seeds! The next morning we all went out to the backyard to start our garden. We dug a bunch of small holes with my new shovel, put a seed or two in each hole, and covered them up with dirt and raked over them. Our dog was very confused because he's the one that digs the holes. Every day I would get so excited to water them and see how big they'd gotten. Every day they would get even bigger. That was the most exciting part! Then they started making little tomatoes, and they sort of looked like grapes. And those too got bigger and bigger and started turning red. This was all very exciting and finally by Christmas my dad and I picked our fresh tomatoes and washed them to be eaten in a salad with dinner. who helped him pick the vegetables? Answer: his dad
For Children Museum: Children's Museum, Sundays, 89 North Street, 67641235 Story time: Children's Library, 106 Green Street, Wednesdays during 9:30 a.m -5:00p.m. 66599624 Sports: Soccer Club, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 16 Yangtze Road, 96725643 Basketball Club, Wednesdays and Fridays, 79071632 Cinema: New films for children, 99 Brick Road, 69001354 Useful Phone Numbers Fast Food Restaurant: 66387901 Hospital: 68787451 Visitor Information Center: 800-120-9847 Taxi: 79210583 Visitor Hotel Information: 800-739-7302 It's Friday afternoon,you can go to _ . Answer: play basketball It is easier to go down a hill than to climb up a hill, so it is to fall into bad habit than into good ones. Bad habits do not come suddenly. They come little by little while people do not notice their danger. Some schoolboys first pick up bad habits in school and on the streets. When they cannot finish their lessons, they copy from their classmates. If they see bigger boys smoking, they also want to learn to smoke. When they are older, the habits become so strong that they can never get rid of them. From copying, they fall behind, then learn to steal, and smoking is bad for their health. At last they become worse and worse. How necessary it is that we get rid of the bad habits at the very beginning. Some schoolboys first pick up little bad habits _ . Answer: in schools and on the streets Dogs are social animals and without proper training, they will behave like wild animals. They will soil your house, destroy your belongings, bark excessively, fight other dogs and even bite you. Nearly all behavior problems are perfectly normal dog activities that occur at the wrong time or place or are directed at the wrong thing. The key to preventing or treating behavior problems is learning to teach the dog to redirect its normal behavior to an outlet that is acceptable in the domestic setting. One of the best things you can do for your dog and yourself is to train its obedience. Obedience training doesn't solve all behavior problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem. Training pens up a line of communication between you and your dog. Effective communication is necessary to instruct your dog about what you want it to do. Training is also an easy way to establish the social rank order. When your dog obeys a simple request of "come here, sit," it is showing obedience and respect for you. It is not necessary to establish yourself as top dog or leader of the pack by using extreme measure. You can teach your dog its subordinate role by teaching it to show submission to you. Most dogs love performing tricks for you to pleasantly accept that you are in charge. Training should be fun and rewarding for you and your dog. It can enrich your relationship and make living together more enjoyable. A well-trained dog is more confident and can more safely be allowed a greater amount of freedom than an untrained animal. When a dog has received effective obedience training, its owner _ . Answer: can give the dog more freedom If you are like me and you love drawing a lot, then I'm sure you'll love "Drawing With Mark". "Drawing With Mark" is a great show and Mark is really helpful. He gives kids some tips on how to draw and often teaches kids some history about the things they draw. Kids can also learn three or four fun facts about what they are drawing. "Happy Tails" is about cats and dogs. Mark shows how to draw them and talks about how to look after them, too. In "A Day With The Dinosaurs", Mark visits the Museum of Boston and speaks to an expert to learn how the dinosaurs lived, what they ate and how long they lived. In "Reach For The Stars", Mark is also at the Museum of Boston. He speaks to another expert about the stars. I learned how far we are from the stars. I thought that the stars were just about 100 miles from us, but they are millions of miles from us. That's really far! If you love drawing, you can watch this show. You can have fun with the tips Mark gives you. The tips will help you to become an artist. What's "Drawing with Mark"? Answer: A show. How do you get to school? Do you walk or ride a bike? Do you go by bus or by train? For many students, it's easy to get to school. But for the students in a village in Sichuan province, it is difficult. There is a very big river between their school and the village. There is no bridge and the river runs too quickly for boats. So these students go on a ropeway to cross the river to school. One 11-year-old boy, Liang liang, crosses the river every day. But she is not afraid. "I love to play with my classmates. And I love my teacher. He's like a father to me." Many of the students and villagers never leave the village. It is their dream to have a bridge. Can their dream come true? Can you help them? What's the students and the villagers' dream? Answer: To have a bride over the river
Cell phone use and texting are increasingly common, especially among teens. And that could be a problem. Texting affects learning and performing on test, a new study finds. So a Montana teen, Colin decided to test that. They asked 47 classmates to take part in a two-part experiment. The goal was to test how well these students understood written material. Each one had to read a paragraph or two about a certain topic, then answer questions about it. In the first part, the participants had 15 minutes to understand and then answer questions about six readings. Throughout this test, they met no distractions. During a new set of readings, the brothers sent messages to the participants' cell phones every 90 seconds. In each message, there were questions that required a reply. Participants should have scored better on the second test because it was easier. In fact, they scored worse when distracted by messages. Only a few students scored as well when replying to messages as they did when undistracted. But importantly, nobody performed better during the texting part. The brothers presented details of their findings at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Boys and girls scored equally poorly while texting, the brothers noticed. Older participants didn't do any better than younger ones. And it didn't matter if a student thought he was good at multitasking. On average, the brothers found that even students who were confident of their abilities did just as poorly while texting. Surprisingly, even though the students remembered less of what they read while texting, most of them answered questions in messages perfectly. "Our teachers are very happy to see these results," says Coler. The teens' new data strongly support their teachers' opinion that texting while studying is a serious distraction. The brothers' findings were related to participants' _ . A. reading performance B. quality C. writing ability D. reading speed Answer: A Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children.In spite of the hopeless condition, two of the children, Albrecht Durer and Albert, had a dream.They both wanted to pursue their talent for art.After many long discussions, the two boys finally worked out an agreement.They would toss a coin.The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother who attended the academy.Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy. Tossing a coin, Albrecht Durer won and went off to Nuremberg.Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, supported his brother, _ work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation .By the time he graduated, he had earned considerable fees for his outstanding works. When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming.Albrecht drank a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled him to complete his dream."And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn.Now you can go to Nuremberg to look for your dream, and I will take care of you." Tears streaming down his pale face, Albert sobbed, "No...no...It is too late for me.Look...look at what four years in the mines have done to my hands!The bones in every finger have been broken at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less draw delicate lines with a pen or a brush." To show thanks to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's injured hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward.He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands", but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed it "The Praying Hands".The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, let it be your reminder--no one ever makes any success alone! Why did the two brothers work out the agreement? A. They were so curious as to make a joke. B. Their family couldn't afford the academy. C. One of the brothers was supposed to go into mines. D. They wanted to support the other sisters and brothers. Answer: B According to a national study, in the summer of 2013, the long-term warm weather in the UK has made the number of butterflies increase. Around 46,000 volunteers took part in the year's Big Butterfly Count , and they found 830,000 butterflies.Volunteers were asked to make a record.They would record how many times they found one of 21 different kinds of butterflies. Later, the scientists used the records to find out how many butterflies of different kinds were found across the country.Then, they compared the results to the year before.They found that there was a rise in the number of 15 kinds of butterflies, and some of them went up by 50% compared to recent years.They said the increase in butterfly numbers was a result of warm weather. However, scientists also said that the number of butterflies was in decline as a whole, and that we might not see _ the next year. Richard Fox, who works for Butterfly Conservation, said, "UK butterflies are in long-term decline.Studies have been done since the 1970s.They show that UK butterflies have declined in type and number." He added, "We must _ the long-term decline of these beautiful creatures .The only way is by stopping the damage that has been done to the butterflies' habitats across the UK." What can we learn from the study? A. There were 20 kinds of UK butterflies. B. 50% more UK butterflies were found in 2013. C. The number of 15 kinds of UK butterflies increased. D. There was a long-term increase in UK butterfly number. Answer: C You and your friends are settling into your seats. The new Spider-Man movie is about to start and you've got the snacks: soda and popcorn. Food is part of what makes the movies fun. Just as the lights go out, you catch a slight smell of ... tuna fish?! You turn your head, searching for the source. Then you spot him: A couple rows back, some guy is enjoying a tuna fish sandwich. How'd he get that in here? You wonder. Then you remember how much you paid for your snacks. What invites the unwelcome outside food is probably the price. Why pay $ 5 for a bag of M&Ms when you can get them for a dollar at the corner store? Earlier this year, a Michigan man decided to fight for his right to snack. Joshua Thompson is using his local theater after it banned outside food. He argues the ban breaks a Michigan law that prevents businesses from charging extremely high prices. However, most legal experts believe Thompson has little chance of winning his case, though he does have a point: 85 cents out of a dollar of treats a movie theater sells is pure profit . The truth is that movie theaters are more in the snack business than the movie business. A huge part of the ticket income goes to the Hollywood studio. This makes sense, since the studios have to pay the costs of movie production and advertising. But that often doesn't leave much cash for the theater, which also has its own running costs. If customers stopped buying food, owners would have to raise ticket prices even higher. Of course, there's another reason to think twice before bringing food into the movies: It's against the rules. Breaking those rules can have unpleasant consequences too. Some theaters will kick you out if they catch you. Even without the threat of punishment, we should follow rules all the time------out of respect. Here's a good idea: Eat before the movie. What is the topic of the text? A. The pleasure of enjoying snacks. B. A Michigan man's fight for his right. C. Movie theaters' ban on outside food. D. Bad manners in movie theaters. Answer: C Pines will continue to grow making them A. toxic B. endangered C. reuseable D. shorter Answer: C
At school many things happen to us. We may feel excited when we have success in a school play. We may feel sorry if we lose an important game. We want to keep the memory for the rest of our lives. How to keep the memory? Our English teacher, Miss Wang, has taught us a good way of remembering things to make our own yearbook. What is a yearbook? A yearbook is a kind of book which is used to keep the memory of exciting moments. It's usually made at the end of the year. Last December, we began to make our yearbook. First we chose the persons who had done something special, then some students interviewed them, some wrote down their stories, others took photos of them. Everyone in our class had something to do. Finally our teacher helped us to put the things together. We had our first yearbook. All of us put a lot of love into making the yearbook. It is so wonderful that not only the students but also our parents and teachers will remember the special time for ever. A yearbook is made to _ . Answer: I have been using the Internet since I was five years old, when my dad first sat me down in front of a computer and connected me the World Wide Web. I've always felt like a master of the Internet world. AOL Instant Messaging, MSN, Gmail, Facebook, Myspace -- I've got it all under control. I thought there was nothing more to it besides checking my e-mail and wasting my time, until I was introduced to electronic commerce(e-commerce): business on the Internet. Some online businesses are run from one-room home offices. Others have hundreds of employees across the world. Have you ever heard of Amazon.com, Yahoo.com? My friends often said they got cheap textbooks off Amazon.com, or had a good deal on Steve Madden shoes that were on sale at SteveMaden.com. Unfortunately for me, I continued my "e-commerceless" Web-surfing, not knowing about all the deals I was missing out on. That is, of course, until my sister finally sold the idea to me. "Why are all these packages arriving in the mail for you, Katy?" I asked her one day. Strange envelopes had been put on our doorstep for weeks now, each one always addressed to my sister; and we all know little sisters should never be getting more mail than their elders! "Oh, it's the things I ordered online!" she answered. I watched speechlessly as she opened them. There was no way our parents were letting her spend that much money- online or off! "How much did all of this coat?" "Oh, only about $15 in all!" She said excitedly. "Everything on eBay is on sale! It's a way better than going to the mall." I felt as if there had been a store right in my backyard that I had never walked into! That week, I ordered a used Spanish textbook for my summer course online for 10 percent of the publishing price. A few days later, I bought an iPod protector and a book or two via the wonderful eBay.com. The writer didn't find out about e-commerce until _ Answer: Everyone agrees that it's necessary to reduce carbon emissions around the world. There is less agreement over exactly how nations should go about achieving a more carbon - free planet. Thus, the environmental equivalent: cap - and - trade carbon emissions, or place a carbon tax on all users? With cap - and - trade programs, governments limit the level of carbon produced by an industry. Companies that hold their emissions below the _ can sell their remaining allowance on a carbon market, while companies that go beyond their limit must purchase credits on that market. Carbon taxes are more straightforward: a set tax rate is placed on the consumption of carbon with the idea that raising the price will encourage industries and individuals to consume less. At the moment, cap-and-trade has the upper hand, but doesn't defeat the tax just yet. Supporters of the tax argue that a cap - and - trade system would be too difficult to administer - and too easily gamed by industries looking to sidestep emissions caps. Cap-and-trade advocates contradict that like all other flat taxes, a carbon collection would relatively burden lower - income families, who spend a greater percentage of their income on energy than rich households. So which system will have a larger effect on carbon consumption? A 10% carbon tax might reduce the demand for carbon about 5 % or less, according to an analysis by the Carbon Tax Center, an environmental advocacy group. That may not be enough. Businesses and governments haven't figured out how the two competing systems can work together, but in the end, the world may need both. Carbon taxes work by _ . Answer: The other day at lunch I was part of a whole group of colleagues and we were talking behind our boss's back. She's the new principal of our middle school. We talked about how kind she is to us. She writes notes to wish us happy holidays, or to thank us for jobs well done. She checks on us when she knows we're facing difficulties outside of school with our health or with our families. All too often, When we talk NICE behind someone's back, they never know about it!I sent her a quick email to report the conversation. She replied saying how much she appreciated hearing about it! I like to do the same for my students. Of course I give them my own compliments ,but I love to let them know when others adults have noticed their good behavior and attitudes. Then it's absolutely necessary to let THEM know it too! It matters when what they notice is good. I've known from the other side how much this can mean. I often lack confidence in my own abilities as a teacher, so it gave me quite a lift when a friend who works with families in the community mentioned that he has heard several times from parents how glad they are to have their kids in my class. It just feels more important somehow to have the words said by people who don't know I'll ever hear them. Sure, it's pleasant when we can say nice things about other people. Watch for your next opportunity to be the reporter! Make sure to tell them about the nice things being said behind their backs! Why did the author report their conversation to her principals? Answer: Dear Sir, I have to travel every day from Souk Road to the airport. Two buses travel along their route : the number 49 and number 16. But by the time the number 16 bus reaches Souk Road it is always full, so I can't get on it. I have to wait for the number 49, because sometimes there are empty seats on it. The timetable says that there are buses from Souk Road to the airport every ten minutes. If this is so, why do I have to wait half an hour for a bus nearly every day? The regulations say that if there are empty seats on a bus, the bus must stop at every stop where people are waiting. Why do the half-empty buses go straight past me when I am standing at the bus stop? The regulations say that no bus may carry more than 40 seated passengers and 20 standing passengers. Yesterday I was the first to get off the bus when it reached the airport. I counted the other passengers as they got off. There were 129 of them. It is clear that our bus companies break the regulations and think little of their passengers. Can nothing be done to make your service better? Yours Tired passenger From the passage we can see that _ . Answer:
Question: Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education but had to live. He made millions of dollars by writing whose real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his penname. Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother's tender care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble for his parents. After his father's death in 1847, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a printer, a river-boat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full-time writer. In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him a great fortune. Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died and then three of their children passed away. At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910.(260 words) Mark Twain left school at 12 to _ A. write stories B. make a living C. join the army D. work as a printer Answer: C. join the army Question: Water solidifies in crevices in the asphalt and splits it apart by A. making happy faces B. occupying more space C. cheerleaders D. banana ice cream Answer: B. occupying more space Question: A boy was going to study at the best school in town. In the morning, his grandfather took him to the school. When they went into the playground, the children came up. "What a funny old man," the boy said, making a face. "Hey, fatty ,"another one shouted. The children _ the pair(,) and jumped up and down. Without saying a word, the old man took his grandson out of the school gate. "Wonderful! I don't have to go to school!" the boy said. "You do, but not this one," his grandfather said. "I'll find you another school to go to." Grandfather took his grandson back to his house, asked Grandmother to look after him, and then went out to look for a school alone. Every time he got to a school, the old man went into the playground, and waited for the children to come out at break time. In some schools the children completely ignored the old man, and in others, they made fun of him. When this happened, he would turn sadly and leave. Finally, he went into the very small playground of a very small school, and stood tiredly against the wall. The bell rang, and the children came out into the playground. "Sir, are you all right? Shall I bring you something to drink?" said a voice. "We've got a bench in the playground. Come and sit down," came another voice. Soon a young teacher came out into the playground. The old man greeted him and said, "Finally, I've found my grandson the best school in town." The old man went into the _ whenever he got to a school. A. teacher' office B. classroom C. school library D. playground Answer: D. playground Question: Last year I travelled to Finland. I enjoyed the time in the plane because I knew a friendly man there. He was from Italy, but we had no problem _ with each other. We both talked in English. When I got to Finland, I visited Espoo, Oulu, Lahti and Tampere. The people there were very friendly. I also spent a lot of time in Helsinki -- the capital of Finland. People also called it the daughter of the sea. It was very clean. There I watched the Baltic Sea. It was very beautiful. One night, I went to the theatre to see a very interesting local play. Everything was OK but the sun, because the sunset there was too early. I had a very nice time in this country and I want to travel to it again. How did the writer go to Finland? A. By train. B. By air. C. By bus. D. By ship Answer: B. By air. Question: Animals are considered to be endangered if the species is close to extinction throughout all or most of its environment. Animals become endangered for a variety of reasons. Some animals become endangered when their habitats contain resources for humans. For example, commercial forest cutting in the Amazon Rainforest has seriously reduced the population of many animal species and lead to the extinction of other groups. Land itself is an important resource to humans since it provides us with living space, and when people replace animal habitats with human habitats, it can lead to larger loss of natural species. Commercial and industrial operations may reduce land or water for animals and pollute their environment. Due to water pollution, the baiji, a fresh water dolphin native to China, was declared extinct, meaning it's unlikely the population can recover. Even noise pollution from human activities can lead to the disorder of animal behavior. Another cause that makes animals become endangered is over-fishing or over-hunting. Over-hunting whales led to near extinction of many species of whales. The introduction of a non-native species to a habitat may make animals become endangered. The native species may not defend against a new one, and the effects can be dangerous. In Australia, the introduction of the common house cat led to the extinction of the red-fronted parakeet and has seriously damaged the populations of several small animals. Introduced species can also bring new diseases with them. As a result, animals become endangered. Native animals may not have the power to fight against non-native diseases, and population levels can suffer. Another cause of disease is human-introduced chemicals. The use of DDT is believed to be one of the leading causes in driving the California Condor to near extinction. When animals become endangered, the entire food chain can be affected. For example, in 2008 disease seriously harmed the honeybee, which is largely responsible for pollinating plants, including many fruits and vegetables. Without their pollination, a very large part of the human diet could be reduced. In fact, if the honeybee should become extinct, our life would be affected and billions of dollars would be lost. Therefore, many people argue that when animals become endangered it is in man's own self-interest to protect them. Why is it dangerous to introduce a non-native species to a habitat? A. Native species are likely to die from the new diseases. B. It's hard for non-native species to survive. C. Non-native species will take up more space. D. Native species are so powerful for non-native species. Answer: A. Native species are likely to die from the new diseases.
If you have ever experienced jet lag ,you know how much of a drag it can be. Jet lag happens as a result of air travel, when traveling between two or more time zones. Your body is used to operating in a certain time zone, and when its timing is affected, you're likely to have problems. Edward Norton's character in the movies Fight Club faces the struggle of jet-lag-induced sleeplessness due to his constant traveling. Sleeplessness is just one of the effects of jet lag, and it can lead to other problems, such as tiredness, memory loss and confusion. That's not something you should have to fight on a business trip and it certainly won't make your vacation very enjoyable, either. Sleeplessness is the biggest problem for travelers that suffer from jet lag. Don't worry. You can do something to prevent it. Modify Your Body Clock To prevent the effects on your body's timing that come with crossing time zones, you need to change your body clock sooner, rather than later. You can do this by putting yourself on the same time as your destination time zone before you fly. If you know that you will be traveling to London from the eastern United States, you'll have a five-hour time difference to deal with. Plan for it. Avoid Heavy Food and Alcohol Part of the pleasure of flying commercially, especially if you fly business or first class, is taking advantages of the food and drinks. If you want to avoid jet lag, though, you should think twice. Eating heavy food will only make the jet lag worse. It isn't good to drink alcohol during a flight, either, because it may make you drowsy. Wait until your body adjusts before you decide to have heavy food or drink alcohol. Norton's character in Fight Club has to fight with_. The concept of personal choice in relation to health behaviors is an important one. An estimated 90 percent of all illnesses may be preventable if individuals would make sound personal health choices based upon current medical knowledge. We all enjoy our freedom of choice and do not like to see it restricted when it is within the legal and moral boundaries of society. The structure of American society allows us to make almost all our own personal decisions that may concern our health. If we do desire, we can smoke, drink much, refuse to wear seat belts, eat whatever foods we want, and _ without any exercise. The freedom to make such personal decisions is a fundamental aspect of our society, although the wisdom of these decisions can be questioned. Personal choices to health often cause a difficulty. As one example, teenager may know the facts to smoking cigarettes and health but may be pressured by friends into believing it is a socially accepted thing to do. A majority of factors, both inherited and environmental, influence the development of health-related behaviors, and it is beyond the scope of this text to discuss all these factors as they may affect any given individual. However, the decision to adopt a particular health related behavior is usually one of personal choices. There are healthy choices and there are unhealthy choices. In discussing the morals of personal choice, Fries and Crapo, drew a comparison. They suggest that to knowingly give oneself over to a behavior that has a statistical probability of shortening life is similar to attempting suicide. Thus, for those individuals who are interested in preserving both the quality and quantity of life, personal health choices should reflect those behaviors that are associated with a statistical probability of increased vitality and longevity . According to Fries and Crapo, sound health choices should be based on _ . All the ponds in an area dried up during a drought. The population of which of the following animals that live in the area is most affected by the drought? A Deaf Person's Joke Something was wrong with Jack's ears after he was much better from a serious illness. Several months later he went to a doctor. The doctor told him that he was deaf of both ears. Jack was sad. He was afraid to lose his work. So he did not like people to know this. One evening he asked some friends to dinner. While they were sitting at the table, one of his friends told an interesting joke. Everyone laughed and Jack laughed louder than anyone else. He said, "That was a very interesting joke, but I know a more interesting one. Would you like to hear it?" All his friends said OK to him, so Jack began to tell his joke. All his friends were listening to him with smiles. When the joke ended, everyone laughed louder than before and Jack laughed happily, too. He was very glad because he thought that his must be more interesting than his friend's. But he didn't know that he had made a fool of himself(;) because his joke was the same as the first one. When was Jack deaf of both ears? The idea for a science experiment can come from an unusual place. After watching a YouTube video of a dancing bird named Snowball, a scientist in Californina decided to study the ability of animals to keep the beat. Bird lovers have long claimed that their pets have rhyhm, and there are many videos of dancing birds online. Until now, scientists have suspected that humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music. Thanks to Snowball, is changing. Snowball is a cockatoo, a kind of parrot, and his favorite song is "Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys. When he hears the song, he moves his feet and rocks his body with the tempo, or pace of the music, as though he is the only bird member of the boy band. Aniruddh Patel is a neuroscientist, or a scientist who studies how the brain and the nervous system contribute to learning, seeing and other mental abilities. He works at the Neurosciences Instiute in San Diego. After seeing Snowbaill's dance online, Patel visited the cockatoo at the bird rescue facility he's called home for two years. The scientist played "Everybody" for Snowball and also played versions of the song that were sped up or slowed down. Sometimes, Snowball danced too fast or too slowly. Often, when there was a change in tempo, Snowball adjusted his dancing to match the rhythm. In other experiments, scientists have observed the same abilities in preschool children. Patel isn't the only scientist who has studied Snowball's moves. Adena Schachner, who studies psychology at Harvard University, also wanted to know more about the dancing bird. Schachner's team played different musical pieces for Snowball and a parrot named Alex, as well as eight human volunteers. The scientists observed that the birds and the humans kept time to the music with about the same accuracy. Schachner and her team watched thousands of YouTube videos of different animals moving to music. Not all the animals could dance, however. From watching the videos, the scientists observed that only animals that imitate sounds, including 14 parrot species and Asian elephants, accurately moved in time to music. According to the scientists, Snowball's ability to dance to music is probably related to the fact that _ .
Ice made from which kind of water would melt when the others stay frozen? Answer: In today's world many people seem to be hungry for money. Some of them even lose their lives for it. Money does have its most useful effect on the poor,but once a person has a rich life,a lot more money doesn't mean more happiness. If money was everything,all millionaires would have true love, true friendship,good health and a long life. However,this is not always true. Nothing else is more pleasant than the three words which are "I love you". But can love be bought?I'm afraid not. Love means to give,not to take. To every person,health and long life are probably the most precious things. Well,can health and a long life be bought with money?The answer is "No". Of all the longest living people in the world, few of them are millionaires. True friendship can't be bought either. In a word,Where money is worshiped ,money can cause brothers to quarrel,lovers to hate,strangers to fight and so on. No matter how much money you have,it is still not enough to make you a happy person if you have no one to laugh with,no one to cry for. According to the passage,which of the following do you think is right? Answer: Today people can use the phone to talk with others almost anywhere on the earth. But when you use the phone , you don't see the person you are talking with . That may change in the near future . Today some people are using a kind of telephone called the picture phone or vision phone. With _ , two people who are talking can see each other Picture phones can be useful when you have something to show the person you're calling . They may have other uses in the future. One day you may be able to ring up a library and ask to see a book. Then you'll be able to read the book right over your picture phone. Or you may be able to go shopping through your picture phone. If you see something in the newspaper that you think you want to buy, you'll go to your phone and call the shop . People at the shop will show you the thing you're interested in right over the phone. You'll be able to shop all over the town and never leave your room! Picture phones are very _ . Answer: 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 centuries-old art of magic fashionable once again, and made him the hottest magician in prefix = st1 /China. As a seasoned young magician from Taiwan, Liu is popular worldwide for his magic shows. Countries he has performed in include theUnited States,Japan,South Koreaand theUK. 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 is 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 intriguing ," Liu said. Liu's success dates 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 wonTaiwan'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 decent job after graduation pushed him towards magic as a career. To refine his performing skills, he has performed on streets, roads and fields, for pedestrians , policemen and farmers. "Street shows are the biggest challenge for us magicians. We have to deal with unexpected situations and tough crowds." Liu said. What is the key reason that Liu Qian decided to make magic his career? Answer: Several weeks ago, kidsPost did a story on "The Art of Video Games" at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition has created debate with some people saying that as fun as video games are ,they are not works of art. Other people say that videos games may be a new form of art and that they belong to in museums. We asked readers for their opinions on the topic. Here are a few of the letters we received. A video game is like a painting on a screen. In order to make a video game, you have to think of something original to reach the players. This is the point of Art. ---Mary Pottanat,13 I believe video games are not a form of art. Art should be a visual and creative expression of feelings. Although it is arguable that video games are visual ,they do not express feelings in any way. ---Prannab Kirshnan,12 However exciting video games are, they are not art. Painting is art, but not video games. Art has beauty and culture that no technology could ever compare to. Even though you can create art in some video games, the " Mona Lisa" wasn't painted with Nintendo. ---Caroline Kaplan,10 Art is a way of communicating ideas to the public in a way that is fun to them. The "public", who in this case are kids and adults, are finding these video games from different time periods interesting. Video games would not have been art if it had not been for the kids and adults attracted by "the art of video games". ---Ryan Puthumana,10 Ryan Puthumana holds the view that video games _ . Answer:
Today, Friday, December 14 JAZZ with the Mike Thomas Jazz Band at The Derby Arms. Upper Richmond Road West, Sheen. DISCO Satin Sounds Disco. Free at The Lord Napier, Mort lake High St., from 8 am. to 8 pm. Tel: 682-158. Saturday, December 15 JAZZ Lysis at The Bull's Head, Barnes. Admission 60p. MUSICAL HALL at The Star and Garter, Lower Richmond Road, Putney, provided by the Aba Daba Music Hall company. Good food and entertainment fair price. Tel: 789-749. FAMILY night out? Join the sing-along at The Black Horse. Sheen Road, Richmond. JAZZ The John Bennett Big Band at The Bull's Head, Barnes. Admission 80p. THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion . Tel: 789-536 Sunday, December 16 DISCO Satin Sounds Disco, free at The Lord Napier, Mort Lake High Street, from 8 am to 8 pm. FOLK MUSIC at The Derby Arms. The Short Stuff and residents the Norman Chop Trio. Non-remembers 70p. Tel: 688-626. HEAVY MUSIC with Tony Simon at The Bull, Upper Richmond Road West, East Sheen. THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion. Where should you go if you want to spend the Saturday by joining the entertainment with your family.? The sing-along at The Black Horse. A new study has discovered that meditation and oxygen sport together reduce depression .The Rutgers University study found that this mind and body combination, done twice a week for only two months,reduced the symptoms for a group of students by 40 percent. "We are excited by the findings because we saw such a meaningful improvement in both clinically depressed and non--depressed students,"said lead author Dr.Brandon Alderman."It is the first time that both of these two behavioral ways have been looked at together for dealing with depression." Researchers believe the two activities have an interactive effect in _ depression.Alderman and Dr.Tracey Shors discovered that a combination of mental and physical training (MAP)enabled students with major depressive disorder not to let problems or negative thoughts defeat them. Rutgers researchers say those who participated in the study began with 30 minutes of focused attention meditation followed by 30 minutes of oxygen sport.They were told that if their thoughts drifted to the past or the future they should refocus on their breathing,enabling those with depression to accept moment-to-moment changes in attention. Shors,who studies the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus--part of the brain involved in memory and learning--says scientists have shown in animal models that oxygen sport exercise keeps a large number of certain cells alive. The idea for the human intervention came from her laboratory studies,she says,with the main goal of helping individuals acquire new skills so that they can learn to recover from stressful life events. By learning to focus their attention and exercise,people who are fighting depression can acquire new learning skills that can help them process information and reduce the overwhelming recollection of memories from the past,Shors says. "We know these treatments can be practiced over a lifetime and that they will be effective in improving mental health."said Alderman."The good news is that this intervention can be practiced by anyone at any time and at no cost." What is Shors'main purpose of her studies? To offer people a new method to treat stress. "Angie, I know you like to sing," her father, a worker, told Angela Brown, "but you must have something to fall back on ." Brown took her father's advice. She got a degree in secretarial science before entering Oakwood College, in Huntsville, Alabama. However, her aim was to become a singer at religious meetings. So after graduation she headed for Indiana University to study with the famous soprano Virginia Zeani. Once, when Brown was troubled by self-doubt, Zeani said to her, "If you want to be the next Aretha Franklin, you need no more lessons," Brown remembers her saying. "But if you want to be the best Verdian soprano this world has ever seen, you must work." Work she did. Three times she competed in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions . Three times she failed to make the final round in New York. Then, in 1997 at age 33, the age limit for sopranos to audition, she gave it one more try. She signed up at the last minute and didn't even practice, thinking, "All they could do was to tell me no, and that didn't hurt my feelings anymore." She had the strength she needed to fall back on if she failed. She won. But making it in New York was just the beginning. It took her three more years to become an understudy at the Met. But waiting in the wings was fine with her. Finally, her time came. When the featured singer fell ill, Brown earned the chance to sing the lead role in Aida. And The New York Times described her performance as a great success. Angela Brown, who had prepared for 20 years, was an "overnight" successful singer at age 40. When did Angela Brown act as an understudy at the Met? From 2000 to 2004. Home gardens are very common in America. They can provide people with fresh vegetables, but hard work should be done. For example, you have to fight against insects and animals in home gardens, because they like the fresh vegetables as much as us. Maybe you will surround a small garden with a wire fence, but this may not keep out birds or some digging animals. Instead, it can reduce unwanted visitors. You can remove harmful insects by hand. But if you want to use poisons, be extremely careful. Be sure to follow all the safety directions. There is another way to fight insects-avoid planting a crop in the same place every year. Insects lay eggs in the soil, so they reappear yearly. Moving a crop from place to place in the garden can keep insects away from the plants they like to eat. To reduce garden work, spread eight to ten centimetres of _ under and around vegetables. Mulch can be made of tree bark or the pages of newspapers. Mulch will help limit the growth of weeds and hold water in the soil. Mulch also provides fertilizer as it breaks down. You can talk to an agricultural adviser about other fertilizers to add to the soil. Harvest vegetables during the cool part of the morning if possible. Here is some advice for some popular kinds of vegetables: Harvest beans and peas when they have grown full, bright and green. Do not wait too long. Heads of broccoli should be harvested before any yellow flowers appear. More growth will develop later for a continuous harvest. Some greens like collards , mustard and spinach produce more leaves after the first harvest. They will continue to grow all the season. Pick green onions when they reach the desired size. Pick other onions when their top leaves turn yellow. A home garden can be hard work for several months. But a good harvest is the best reward. How many ways are mentioned to fight insects in the passage? Three. I live in a small doll's house in a young girl's room. The girl is called Danielle. She loves me very much. She puts beautiful clothes on me and combs my hair every day. I look like a lady from the Tang Dynasty in China. My clothes are red and blue. I wear golden shoes and small gold hair clips. Danielle is going to take me to Japan for the Doll Festival. I can see many dolls there. Sometimes I feel lonely because I am Danielle's only doll and I never see other dolls. I want to talk with other dolls. I want to talk about our clothes, houses and lives. I want to ask the Japanese dolls a lot of questions. I want to ask the Kokeshi dolls why they have no arms or legs! They are usually little girls. I like to talk to young dolls. Danielle says I can meet some boys' dolls at the festival too. I hope I can make friends with some of them. Who is the writer ? A girl's doll.
It was New Year's Night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his sad eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake. He had already passed sixty and brought from his journey nothing but errors and regrets. Now his health was poor, his mind empty, his heart sorrowful . The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he remembered the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads --- one leading to a peaceful, sunny place, covered with flowers, fruits and filled with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a deep, dark cave, which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and devils and poisonous snakes hissed and crawled. He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness. These were the days of his wasted life; he saw a star fall down from the sky and disappeared, and this was the symbol of himself. His regret like a sharp arrow struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood. But they had made their way to success and were now honored and happy on this night.www.ks5u.com The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents' early love for him. They had taught him and prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong way. With shame and sorrow he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his father lived. His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a hopeless effort, he burst out a cry: "Come back, my early days! Come back!" His youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year's Night. He was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land. Those who still wander on the entrance of life, hesitating to choose the bright road, remember that when years are passed and your feet stumble on the dark mountains, you will cry bitterly, but in vain : "Oh youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!" Why does the author set his story on New Year's Night? Being a nonrenewable resource means coal It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently. My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. _ On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps in the distance. On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn't believe it ----there aren't any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive. The little baby whale----actually as big as our boat----was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools and waves. "She's trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side, "my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, some-times rising from the water right beside us to breathe----and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance. In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day, Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea. what is the theme of the story? Fifteen hours is a long time to be on a plane ,but you know ,Africa is a long way from North America.Finally ,we're in Namibia, a country in southwest Africa.Namibia is about twice the size of California.However, it is home to just over two million people.And the country's main airport is 45 kilometres east of its capital,Windhoek. Now we are in a wildlife park.We will spend five days finding ways to protect this area's wildlife.At the moment ,my wife and our two kids are enjoying some local dishes.I'm talking with workers in this park.I'm so much looking forward to the following days ! --Thomas Yesterday morning ,I had nothing to do ,so I went to visit the Eiffel Tower,a symbol of Paris.It was my first time there,so I took a lot of photos. Finally.The big moment came! A lot of artists came to watch my show.It was a great success.After the show, I attended a big party.It was great,but i felt so sleepy after it. When I got back to my hotel, it was already 1:15am.I went to bed without washing.I just needed a good rest before my two-hour journey home by plane. --Jessica How did Jessica feel after party? One August afternoon, Richard Allen dropped off his last passenger, Mrs. Carey. Lifting two grocery bags, he followed her across the yard and stood on the step of her house. Glancing up, he saw a large wasp nest under the roof. Allen had heard that wasps can become more likely to sting(sting, stung, stung)in summer. He mentioned this to Mrs. Carey, who had opened the door. "Oh, they don't bother me," she said lightly. "I go in and out all the time." Anxiously, Allen looked at the nest again-to see the wasps flying straight at him. "Hurry!" he shouted to Mrs. Carey. "Get in!" She stepped quickly inside. Allen ran for his mini-bus. Too late; they were upon him. Just as he jumped aboard, half a dozen red spots showed on his arm, and he felt more on his back and shoulders. As he was driving down the road, Allen felt as if something was burning at the back of his neck, and the "fire" was spreading forward toward his face. An immediate anxiety took hold of him. Allen knew that stings could cause some persons to die. But he had been stung the previous summer and the after-effects soon passed. However, what he didn't know was that the first sting had turned his body into a time bomb waiting for the next to set off an explosion. Miles from the nearest medical assistance, Allen began to feel his tongue thick and heavy and his heartbeat louder. Most frightening, he felt his breathing more and more difficult. He reached for the radio mike ,trying to call the mini-bus center, but his words were hardly understandable. Signals were also poor that far out. He knew a rescue team was on 24-hour duty at the Amherst Fire Department's north station. So his best chance was to make a run for it. Rushing down the mountain, Allen tried not to panic, focusing his mind on each sharp turn. He was almost through the last of them when he felt sure he was going into shock .Just then he reached for the radio mike again. "Call fire station," he shouted, concentrating to form the words. "Emergency. Bee sting. Emergency. There in ten minutes." "Five-ten," the center replied. Hold on, Allen thought. Keep your eyes open. Breathe. Keep awake. At last he reached the station. Two firemen ran out. Allen felt their hands grasp him before he hit the ground. You made it, he thought. Which would be the best title for the passage?
Grandfather was an elder Cherokee Native American who had a wrinkled, nut brown face and kind dark eyes.His grandson often came in the evening to sit on his knee and asked the many questions that children asked. One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger on his face and the following story."Father and I went to the store today and because I helped him, he bought me a present, a jack-knife.I went outside to wait for father and to admire my new knife in the sunlight.Some town boys came by and saw me.They surrounded me and started saying bad things.They called me dirty and stupid and said that I should not have such a fine knife.The largest of these boys pushed me back and I fell over one of the other boys.I dropped my knife and one of them picked it up and they all ran away laughing.I hate them.I hate them all." The elder Cherokee, with eyes that had seen too much, lifted his grandson's face so his eyes looked into the boy's face.Grandfather said, " Let me tell you a story.I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do.But hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy.It is like drinking poison and wishing your enemy would die.I have struggled with these feelings many times.It is as if two wolves are inside me...It is a terrible fight. One wolf is good and does no harm.He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense is intended.It will only fight when it is right to do so and in the right way.This wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, modesty, kindness, friendship, sympathy, generosity, truth and faith. The other wolf is full of anger.The smallest thing will set off his fiercest temper.He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason.He cannot think because his anger and hate are so much. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.This wolf represents fear, envy, greed, self-pity, guilt, lies, false pride and superiority. Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me for both of them try to control my mind.This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person too." The boy looked into his grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied ... "The one you feed." The angry wolf would probably be described as _ . A. aggressive B. sympathetic C. modest D. unsuccessful Answer: A. aggressive Samantha, or Sam, as her husband, John, called her, had left the doctor's house looking perfect, satisfied with her appearance. The year was 1862. It seemed that the war with the North would never come to an end. Sam's father had left as soon as possible, swearing that he'd fight for Virginia, for their land, for their new government, for God, for the South. At last, Samantha reached the house that she and John owned. It was a cold, rainy night, and she was glad to be home. She stepped into the sitting room. John rested in an armchair, reading a book. He glanced at her, put the book down, and stood, reaching his arms out for her. They kissed briefly. He put a hand to her now slightly round belly and asked, "What did the doctor say?" "He said the baby was fine and that I seemed healthy. Do you have any news?" "Surprisingly, yes." John hesitated for a moment, as if deciding how he would phrase what he was about to say, and then unwillingly continued, "I've been demanded to join the army." Sam screamed, "What?" She was near tears. "But-but we're just starting out." Her voice shook. "I thought that after two years of begging my mother to let the two of us get married that our life would finally be happy. Isn't there any way you can get out of this?" John answered, "I'm afraid not." "Please. Please, John, if you love me, please get out of this. Break a leg, fake an illness, do something." She began to sob. John comforted her, resting her head on his shoulder. "Sam." "What?" "Name the child after me; name it John or Joanna. I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise." Sam smiled into his collar bone, knowing that John lived by his word. He never broke a promise. She pressed her hand to her belly, and, unknown to her, the baby was a girl. And unknown to both of them, the promise that John had just made would be the only promise he would ever break. It can be inferred that John _ . A. died in the war B. lied to his wife C. often broke his promises D. knew that he would be back Answer: A. died in the war Mrs. Black goes to buy a fish with her daughter. She doesn't know how to cook it, so she asks the shopkeeper to write down the way of cooking it on a note. She puts the note in her daughter's pocket and then they leave the shop with the fish. On their way home, a black cat sees them and follows them. Suddenly the cat jumps at her, takes the fish away from her quickly and runs off at once. Mrs. Black runs after it, but she can't run faster than it. At last she stops, not knowing what to do. But she suddenly remembers _ . She laughs and shouts at the cat, "You don't know how to cook it. The note is still in my daughter's pocket!" _ enjoys the fish, too. A. The cat B. Mrs. Black C. The shopkeeper D. Mrs. Black's daughter Answer: A. The cat The largest outbreak of the deadly disease Ebola was caused by an infected bat biting a toddler, say a group of international researchers. The 17-strong team of European and African tropical disease researchers, ecologists and anthropologists have spent three weeks investigating the outbreak of the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. The researchers captured the bats and other creatures near the village of Meliandoua in remote eastern Guinea, where the disease began in December 2013. The boy was bitten and passed the infection on to his mother and both died within a week. The disease was then spread far and wide by the people who came to the funeral. Most of the previous outbreaks have been caused by meat from dead infected animals collected by hunters who then sell it on. Fruit bats, however, are widely eaten in rural West Africa. The team, led by epidemiologist Herr Leendertz, a disease ecologist at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, are expected to publish their results in a major journal soon. Herr Leendertz's team believe that an infected straw-colored fruit bat brought the disease to Guinea. The mammals are known to travel long distances and usually settle in forests near cities. Herr Leendertz said, " The evidence is not 100 percent and we can only say that it is possible. They can travel far in one night. I don't think an individual bat or colony migrated all the way from Congo or Gabon to West Africa. These big colonies are connected. There is a possibility for the virus to mix between colonies. The bats share the same fruit. It is likely not to have even been one species of bat. The virus may jump from one species to another." If the bat theory is confirmed, the locals would try to destroy the colonies, which, Herr Leendertz says, would be an ecological disaster, because bats pollinate plants and kill insects. And bat hunts would also only increase human contact with potentially infected animals. If the bat theory is confirmed, _ . A. the disease Ebola will be controlled B. all the fruit bats in Africa would be killed C. plants would not be pollinated in the future D. the ecosystem in Africa might lose its balance Answer: D. the ecosystem in Africa might lose its balance Alexis, 17, sat quietly in the passenger seat of her dad's car.She let her eyes lazily scan the landscape for wildlife.Then a deer came into view about 200 yards in front of them."Dad, there's a deer there!" Alexis said.It was a male deer with sharp antlers on each side of its head. As the car moved closer, Alexis saw that the deer's head was bent toward the ground.Then she heard a scream and saw an arm fly up near the deer's head.Alexis realized the deer was attacking a woman.Sue, a 44-year-old mother, had been out for her morning run.The deer followed her and edged closer."I knew I was in trouble," Sue says.She went to pick up a stick for self-defense, and the deer charged.It lifted her with its antlers and threw her into the air.Sue could feel blood flew down her leg.Within seconds, the deer had pushed her off the road. When Alexis and her father pulled up, the deer was throwing Sue like a doll.Alexis looked into the woman's terrified eyes, and before her father had even stopped the car, the teenager jumped quickly out of the car and ran toward the deer."I was kicking it to get its attention," she says.Then her father, who had followed his daughter, pushed the deer away from the women. Alexis helped Sue into the car, and then applied a piece of cloth to Sue's injured leg."We're going to get you to a hospital," Alexis said.Then she heard her father shout loudly.He had been knocked to the ground.Alexis took hold of a hammer from the car and ran to where her father lay on his back.She beat the deer's head and neck, but the blows didn't scare it away."I was losing faith," she says."A couple more strikes, Alexis," said her father."You can do it." Turning the hammer around, Alexis closed her eyes and beat the deer's neck with all her strength.When she opened her eyes, the deer was running away.Alexis got in the driver's seat and sped toward the nearest hospital. After Sue was treated, she tearfully thanked her rescuers."You expect a teenage girl to get on the phone and call for help," she says, "not to beat up a deer." What is the best title for the passage? A. A Woman Was Seriously Injured B. A Dangerous Deer Attacked a Woman C. A Girl Rescued Her Father Successfully D. A Teenager Saved Others from a Deer Attack Answer: D. A Teenager Saved Others from a Deer Attack
Tragedy struck for brothers Rob and Paul Forkan when they lost their parents in the 2004 Asian tsunami. Now, over ten years later, they're using their flip flop business to help other orphans. The boys had an unusual childhood. They were just 11 and 13 when their parents, Kevin and Sandra, took them out of the UK education system and moved the family to Goa in India. Their parents were of the philosophy that they would receive a healthier and fuller education by traveling the world and helping others. There they did lots of voluntary work and mixed with the local community. It was when the family were on holiday in Sri Lanka that the tsunami hit. Although the children managed to escape, their parents tragically couldn't. But Paul says their upbringing meant they were able to cope with this tough blow. "Our parents gave us this confidence that we could do anything, that nothing was hard to achieve," says Paul. What the boys did was to start a business selling ethically-sourced sandals. They're called 'Gandys' after the father of India's independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi. "He was in all our schoolbooks as kids; he's on all the money over in India; he's famous for wearing his flip flops," says Paul. The entire project was inspired by their parents' philosophy, their globetrotting childhoods and what happened to them in Sri Lanka. Their parents had previously worked in the fashion industry before quitting their jobs and focusing on humanitarian projects. Thus, Gandys is a very fitting tribute to their lives. Gandys sells flip-flops and donates 10 percent of the profits from every pair sold to orphans around the globe. In conjunction with Gandys, the Forkans also founded Orphans for Orphans, a charitable organization dedicated to helping orphans. They say they can make a profit and do good at the same time: they give 10% of their profit to charity, and have set up their own foundation through which they've been able to open a children's home in Sri Lanka. This year alone, Gandys has sold 250,000 pairs of flip flops, which is only expected to increase. In 2013, the business made around 1.2 million pounds ($1.8 million). With more profits, more orphans will receive assistance. Hence, it's safe to say that the Forkan brothers are making their parents very proud. What's the best title of the passage? Answer: "Racism is a grown-up disease," declares the saying on Ruby Bridge's website along with a photo of Mrs. Bridge today, a 6-year-old girl four decades ago. In the photo, she is walking up the steps of the William Frantz Public School in New Orleans, a little black girl accompanied by two officers who protect her on her way to school. Her name then was Ruby Nell. It was Nov. 14, 1960. She was the first black child to enroll at this all-white elementary school according to the court order to desegregate in New Orleans schools. Her story is moving -- she was a very courageous child -- and remains a significant proof against intolerance of all kinds. Ruby's photo brings out another powerful image on her website: Norman Rockwells symbolic painting for Look magazine on Jan. 14, 1964, "The Problem We All Live With." Rockwell was an illustrator of exceptional skill and charm. He produced a vast number of unforgettable images over a long career, many of them involving children. His American kids are innocent and appealing, but often, at the same time, decidedly naughty. His method was to photograph his models, and the resulting paintings were photographic. But it is revealing to see how the artist slightly changed facial expressions from photo to oil painting in order to make his paintings communicate with the viewer. Communication, even persuasion, lay at the back of his work; this was art for effect. "The Problem We All Live With" belongs to Rockwell's later work, when he began openly showing his strong belief in liberty. This is a highly persuasive image. Before he arrived at the final copy, one sketch shows the little girl closer to the two officers following her than to those in front. In the finished picture, the girl seems more determined, independent, and untouched. The unfriendly tomatoes thrown on the wall are behind her now, and she, is completely unaffected. According to the passage, "The Problem We All Live With" is a(n) _ . Answer: Liu Hui is very excited. The students in a school in Shanghai will go to the USA with his parents during the Spring Festival. "Overseas touring has always been a dream for me," he said happily. Nowadays, Chinese people enjoy longer holidays, such as the three "Golden Week Holidays"(the Spring Festival, May Day and National Day). They have more time to travel. Rising incomes also make travelling abroad realistic for ordinary Chinese people. Nearly 7 million Chinese travelled overseas in 2001, according to the National Tourism Administration . The most common problem travellers face is how to choose the best routes . By the end of 2002, Chinese citizens were allowed to travel to 19 foreign countries and regions at their own expense. The top 10 places included Hong Kong, Macao and Thailand. European countries are also becoming increasingly popular. "More and more Chinese people have shown interest in travelling to Europe, particularly France and Finland," said Tan Wen, a general manager of China Youth Travel Service. "Sooner or later, there will be a peak in European tours." Another consideration is choosing the right travel agencies and finding the best price. The China Consumers' Association(CCA,)offered tips to consumers on choosing the right travel agencies to help prevent a relaxing vacation from turning into a costly disaster. "Price should not be the single most important factor in choosing a travel agency," said Zhang Yuanchao, CCA vice-secretary general. Consumers are advised to choose large State travel agencies with good reputations and official approval to organize overseas tour groups. Zhang's association dealt with more than 5, 000 complaints about travel agencies last year. And the majority of the complaints were about _ in travel routes, bad tour guides, and forced shopping. Travellers were warned to look carefully at their contracts with agencies and to buy travel insurance . According to the passage, what is the biggest problem Chinese travelers face when going overseas? Answer: For nearly 250 years, Debrett's has advised the British public on suitable social manners. Now, it has listed modern guide to good manners, answering the questions that most trouble the British public in 2014. Using mobile phone in public More questions are asked about mobile use than any other case. According to Debrett's, it is always rude to pay more attention to a phone than the people around you, and they should always be put away when you're paying for something in a shop. They should be turned off in theatres, cinemas or any space where silence is required. Smoking e-cigarettes at work As electronic cigarettes become more popular, questions about whether they are acceptable in the workplace are asked more often. According to Debrett's, they should never be used in a work environment. Smoking e-cigarettes at work shows that you're not focused on your work and may also have a bad influence on your workmates. Giving up your seat on public transport In a recent university experiment only 20 per cent of London tube passengers are willing to give up their seat to people in need. According to Debrett's, passengers should always offer to give up their seat to any person that is pregnant, elderly, or clearly in need. It is important to remember, however, that it is just as impolite to rudely refuse the offer of a seat as it is to not offer a seat. Eating before everyone is served The final question is one that we've all asked ourselves: is it rude to start eating at the table before everyone else has been served? According to Debrett's, the simple answer is yes, unless the host or hostess _ dinners to start. How many questions about good manners are listed in the passage? Answer: Tom and I are good friends. Tom is an English boy, but I am a Chinese girl. My name is Li Hua. He is 12 and I am 13. He is in Class One. I'm in Class One, too. Tom has a nice football. He can play it. I have a computer. I can play computer games, but I can't play football. It's difficult. Tom teaches me to play football, and I teach him to play computer games. Now I can play football and Tom can play computer games. Li Hua is _ , but Tom is _ . Answer:
One day I was walking home along the street with my iPod on, when suddenly my headphones were knocked off my head and a man threw his arm around my neck, saying "Just be quiet." I was being attacked, and this man's arm was gripping onto me! I started screaming and tried to pull him off me, but failed. He was forcing me to walk towards the back of an auto repair shop and he just kept saying: "Be quiet." My mind froze with fear. Then I heard my great-grandmother's voice in my head. She was saying: "Come on now, I know you are stronger than that!" She was the rock in our family until she died four years ago. I have never had any self-defense training, but I went for it--I let out a loud scream as I kicked my leg back into his shin ! He let go of me and I ran off. When I looked back to see if he was running after me, I saw he was running in the opposite direction. Then I ran like crazy to a nearby drugstore. I asked the girl at the counter for the phone and called my mom. She picked me up five minutes later and I explained what happened through sobs. "I am calling the police!" She exclaimed. When we got home, two officers were waiting for us and I told them what had happened. After my experience, I was afraid to do anything. Things slowly got better, but I still don't like anyone going near my neck. The fear isn't totally gone--after all, the guy is still out there somewhere. But I had a new understanding of my own strength. I never expected to be able to fight off an attacker. I am stronger than I realized. How did the author get rid of the man? Answer: Many animals hide to stay alive. They hide in many ways. Some animals hide in leaves; some animals hide in snow. Usually their colors or shapes help protect them. It's hard to see an Arctic bear in snow. Its white fur helps protect it. Chameleons can hide by changing colors. Their skin turns the same color as what is around them. Some chameleons can change colors in five minutes. Many animals try to look bigger than they are to stay alive. Some animals can make other animals think they are very big. If they look very big, animals that are looking for food will run away. Bears can walk on two legs. They look very, very scary. Some animals will run away from them. Many animals try to stay around other animals. This helps them stay alive. Zebras stay close together so that they can help each other look out of danger. Seeing many stripes at once can also confuse animals that want to eat them. Some birds stay in a circle, each toward a different direction. In this way they can also help each other stay alive by looking around for animals that many want to eat one of them. How do zebras hide ? Answer: Having taken a room at the hotel at which he had been instructed to stay, Smallwood went out; it was a lovely day, early in August, and the sun shone in an unclouded sky. He had not been to Lucerne since he was a boy, but remembered a covered bridge, though not clearly, a great stone lion and a church in which he had sat, bored yet impressed while they played an organ ; and now wandering along a shady quay he tried not so much to find his way about a half-forgotten scene as to reform in his mind some recollection of the shy and eager boy, so impatient for life, who so long ago had wandered there. But it seemed to him that the most lively of his memories was not of himself, but of the crowd; he seemed to remember the sun and the heat and the people; the train was crowded and so was the hotel, the lake steamers were packed and on the quays and in the streets you found your way among the holiday-makers. They were fat and old and ugly and strange. Now, in wartime, Lucerne was as deserted as it must have been before the world discovered that Switzerland was the play-ground of Europe. Most of the hotels were closed, the streets were empty, the boats for hire rocked lazily at the water's edge and there was none to take them, and in the avenue by the lake the only persons to be seen were serious Swiss taking their dogs for their daily walk. Smallwood felt happy and, sitting down on a bench that faced the water, surrendered himself to the feelings. The blue water, snowy mountains, and their beauty hit you in the face. So long, at all event, as the fine weather lasted he was prepared to enjoy himself. He didn't see why he should not at least try to combine pleasure to himself with advantage to his country. After reading the passage, we can draw a conclusion that _ . Answer: If a mother mammal wants to give her offspring proper nutrients, she would utilize her Answer: At my school, we have a lot of interesting activities after class. Among these activities, I like the English Party best. Every September, we have an evening party. It starts at 8:00 pm. The students do different things at the evening party. Some sing English songs with our foreign friends. Some girls dance. Some other people play the piano, the violin and the drums when they are singing or dancing. Also, we play some interesting games together. Everyone is happy and has a good time at the party. Usually, the party lasts three hours, but we feel the time is too short. Happy hours always pass so quickly. : When does the party end? Answer:
Model Time A model is a small copy of a building, vehicle ,machine etc, especially one that can be put together from several parts. If you like models, then this will be the place for you . From model trains, planes and cars to rockets and boats, we've got them all! To find others who can share your interests, and to get more information, please call 88563219. Sports Club Sports Club offers you many different ways to keep healthy. You'll never get bored. Our Program & Service Department is always working in new ways to keep you strong and happy . For more of it , visit _ Keypals International Club KIC is a fun club started by kids, for kids aged 8 to 16. KIC tries to help kids understand different cultures through emails and other activities . KIC has members from 40 different countries. For more of it, visit _ Kids Art Club Kids Art Club offers drawing and painting classes to children aged 7 to 14. Classes are small and we have to have only six learners each class. All classes are taught by Jim Todd who has worked in the art field for over twenty years. For more information, please call 886766213. How many students can the drawing and painting class have each time at Kids Art Club. Six. I received a call today asking if I would be willing to bring food to a family in need. The mother was having a major operation and would be lying down for several weeks. Of course, I responded with an immediate "Yes!". As I planned the meal in my head, I reflected on how many times over the years I had been asked to prepare food. I have done so countless times with a very open heart. But the truly amazing thing is that I have received double over the course of my life. When my mother passed away, our house was filled with fresh dinners for weeks. A woman from the church of our community stopped by each evening with some food. The gift of food was her small way of trying to ease our pain. Later in my life, when I was on bed rest during my pregnancy with twins, women of the church again stepped in to help. They arranged babysitting for my twoyearold daughter, and brought lovely dinners to our house. Even when I was put in the hospital, my husband would bring cooked meals to my hospital room. How we relied on these dinners to feed my tired husband and young daughter. Food is all about comfort. It feeds our bodies, but it can also feed our souls. When you hear people talking about their favourite holidays, it usually includes their feelings connected with sharing food. I know that I will have many more opportunities in my lifetime to prepare food for others. It is truly a gift I want to prepare and deliver to someone in need. According to the passage, which of the following conclusions can we get? One good turn deserves another. Bulgaria is famous for its roses and produces about 85 percent of all the rose oil in the world. Rose oil is called liquid gold and is used in making soaps, chocolates, perfumes and so on. The first records about growing roses on Bulgarian land go back many centuries. The Rose Valley developed in the area between the cities of Kazanlak and Karlovo in central Bulgaria. The roses seem to love the soil and weather there. The rose is the most important plant grown in Bulgaria, which could be called the country on the roses. The rose plantations in the Rose Valley are the largest in the world. Much of the population in the Rose Valley works in the rose industry. In Bulgaria, we produce rose oil, rose water and other products. Rose oil is used in high-quality perfumes produced in many countries. The main flower grown is the Kazanlak rose, which is famous around the world. The oil is prepared by distillation . Each flower is picked by hand, and you need 3,000 kilos to make one kilo of rose oil. That means about 30 flowers for just one tiny drop oil. So you can understand why it is so expensive and is called liquid gold. Each year on the first weekend in June, during the harvest, there is a Festival of Rose in Kazanlak with many performances. Judges choose the Queen of Roses as part of the summer festival. After this, she honors the most skillful picker of roses in the harvest. This festival is an old tradition and goes back more than a century. Today it also includes an International Folklore Festival and attracts many tourists. The festival ends with a concert in the evening. There are also festivals in Karlovo and other towns. Come to see and enjoy. The passage mainly talks about _ . the roses in Bulgaria I am peter Hodes ,a volunteer stem courier. Since March 2012, I've done 89 trips of those , 51 have been abroad, I have 42 hours to carry stem cells in my little box because I've got two ice packs and that's how long they last, in all, from the time the stem cells are harvested from a donor to the time they can be implanted in the patient, we've got 72 hours at most, So I am always conscious of time. & I had one trip last year where I was caught by a hurricane in America. I picked up the stem cells in Providence, Rhode Island, and was meant to fly to Washington then back to London. But when I arrived at the check-in desk at Providence, the lady on the desk said:"Well, I'm really sorry, I've got some bad news for you-there are no fights from Washington."So I took my box and put it on the desk and I said:"In this box are some stem cells that are urgently needed for a patient-please, please, you've got to get me back to the United Kingdom."She just dropped everything. She arranged for a flight on a small plance to be held for me.re-routed me through Newark and got me back to the UK even earlier than originally scheduled. For this courier job, you're consciously aware than that box you're got something that is potentially going to save somebody's life. Why does Peter have to complete his trip within 42hours? The ice won't last any longer. Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Goldman, seldom walked past a bookstore without stopping to look inside. They often talked of opening their own store one day. When Mary was hospitalized with heart trouble in 1989, they decided it was time to get serious. Richard, who worked for a business company, was eager to work for himself, and Mary needed to slow down from her demanding job. They started by talking to bookstore owners and researching the industry. "We knew it had to be a specialty store because we couldn't match the big chains dollar for dollar," says Mary. One figure caught her attention: She'd read somewhere that roughly 20 percent of books sold were mysteries , and many buyers spent more $300 a year on books. She and Richard were themselves mystery readers. On Halloween 1992, they opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and Cafe near their home. With three children in college, the couple could not spend all the family's money to start a shop. To cover the $100,000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from relatives and from an bank. The store merely broke even in its first year, with only $120,000 in sales. But Mary was always coming up with new ways to attract customers. The shop had a coffee bar and it offered gifts to mystery lovers and served dinners for book clubs that met in the store. She also invited dozens of writers to discuss their stories. Today Mystery Lovers makes sales of about $420,000 a year. After paying taxes, business costs and the six part-time sales clerks, Richard and Mary together earn about $34,000. "The job you love may not go hand in hand with a million-dollar income," says Richard. "This has always been about an enjoyable life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money." After Mary got well from her illness they began _ . to do market research on book business
Kelp has to have provisions to maintain life Want to improve your writing skills? New Writing South is directing the way! Towner Writer Squad for kids aged 13-17 Led by comedy and TV writer, Marian Kilpatrick, Towner Writer Squad will meet once a month at the contemporary art museum for 11 months, starting 12 October, 2014. The FREE squad sessions will include introductions to a wide range of writing styles, from poetry to play writing and lyrics to flash fiction, to support the development of young writers. Application & Selection If you would like to apply to be part of the Towner Writer Squad, please send a sample piece of your writing (about 500 words), responding to the title'LUNCH,'with your name, age, address and e-mail address to: debo@newwritingsouth.com. Once all applications are in, you will be invited to an open selection event on 17 September,4-5pm, at the gallery of Towner. This will be an informal opportunity to meet the Squad Leader, Squad Associate and other young people. You will also have a chance to get to know the fantastic gallery space and get a taste of what's to come. Deadline for applications: 8 September, 2014 For further information go to: facebook.com/towner or towner.org.uk or newwritingsouth.com Any questions feel free to send your e-mail to Towner Writer Squad Associate: whame@towner.gov.uk * * * * * * * * *Beginner Writing Project for kids aged 10-13 Due to popular demand, a writing project will be started for eager beginners. Start time: 6 September, 2014 Meet every other Saturday,2-4pm, at the Towner Study Centre. Study and write at your own pace you do not have to rush as you have a year to go through the project. Practise under the guidance of some experienced writers and teachers who can help you with basic writing skills. Most importantly, build confidence and have fun while writing! No previous experience or special background is required. Many others have been successful this way. If they can do it, why can't you? Fee: PS179 For more information go to: newtowner.org.uk or generate.org.uk What is most important for the beginners? Gaining confidence and having fun. Needing to use an umbrella could be the result of precipitation Outside our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a seemingly ancient woman waited beside the door with her hand outstretched. Every day I put my hand in hers as our eyes met. She never failed to return my smile, my grasp, and my greeting. On the last day of our visit, I found myself alone on a busy corner across the street from our hotel. Bicycles and motorbikes rushed in front of me. As I hesitated on the sidewalk, I felt a hand on my elbow and looked down to see the smile of my small beggar friend looking up at me. She nodded her head toward the street, indicating that she would take me across. Together, we moved slowly into the chaos. Then we moved on toward the sidewalk, where she pulled my face down to hers, kissed me on both cheeks, and then left, still smiling and waving back to me. Traveling in poorer nations, I have witnessed a variety of ways to deal with beggars. The most common response of tourists faced with the poverty-stricken is to ignore them and focus their eyes elsewhere. I have seen people push away an outstretched hand in angry annoyance. A few may drop a few coins into the hand in a hurry, hoping that other ragged pursuers won't immediately appear on the scene. For many reasons, giving money is not the best response to an outstretched hand. Many world travelers have discovered that the greatest gift they can give is their time and respect. Everyone needs recognition, to be seen as worthy of being known, to feel appreciated and loved. And I believe that everyone is worthy and worth knowing. The purpose of the passage is to _ . express what we should offer the beggars People have always been dreaming of going to the moon. As long as the year 1901, H. G. Wells, an English writer, wrote a book vividly describing a trip to the moon. On landing there, the explorers discovered that the moon was full of underground cities. Words failed to express their surprise when they spotted so many "moon people". The "moon people" felt even more surprised. "Why," they asked, "are you traveling to outer space when you don't even use your inner space?" H. G. Wells could only imagine a travel to the moon. In 1969, human beings really left their footsteps on the moon. People today know that there are no underground cities on the moon. However, the question that the "moon people" asked is still an interesting one. A growing number of scientists are seriously thinking about _ . Underground systems are already in place. Many cities have underground car parks. In some cities, such as Tokyo, Seoul and Montreal, there are large underground shopping areas. The "Channel", a tunnel connecting England and France, is now complete. But what about underground cities? Japan's Taisei Corporation is designing a network of underground systems, called "Alice Cities". The designers imagine using surface space for public parks and using underground space for flats, offices, shopping, and so on. A solar dome would cover the whole city. Supporters of underground development argue that building down rather than building up is a good way to use the earth's space. The space, they say, can be used for farms, parks, gardens, and wilderness. H. G. Wells' "moon people" would second it. Would you? The explorers in H. G. Well's story were surprised to find that the "moon people" _ . lived in underground cities
Gu Changwei was the first Chinese cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar, he is regarded by Zhang Yimou as the best cinematographer in China. Gu was behind the camera for many of Zhang Yimou's famous films including the one that rocketed Zhang to fame: "Red Sorghum ". And now this master of the visual has taken on his first directing role with the film "Peacock". So Gu Changwei has come out from behind the camera into the spotlight . Gu Changwei is very serious about his directing "Peacock". To get the authentic atmosphere, Gu took his film crew to the city of Anyang in central China's Henan province where the story takes place, to shoot the film. He chose all new actors because he didn't want "star" appeal to weaken the power of the story, and he also had his actors trained in the local dialect. For this film Gu has been able to get out from behind the camera to manage every aspect of the film, and to realize his own ideals in movie-making. "Peacock" is about the life of an average family in a small town in Henan province in the late 70s and early 80s. Gu chose this story for his first movie because he grew up during this same period and it struck a chord with him. "Peacock" wrapped up production in June, 2004. It's aimed at the foreign film market and will be entered in February's Berlin Film Festival, and released in China at the same time. But at the end of last October, Gu took "Peacock" to his Alma Mater, the Beijing Film Academy, one of the most famous film colleges in China, to hold a preview. The film was warmly received by both teachers and students. From the passage we can learn that "Peacock" _ . Answer: History is rich with 'eureka' moments: scientists from Archimedes to Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein are said to have had flashes of inspiration while thinking about other things. But the mechanisms behind this psychological phenomenon have remained unclear. A study now suggests that simply taking a break does not bring on inspiration -- rather, creativity is fostered by tasks that allow the mind to wander. The discovery was made by a team led by Benjamin Baird and Jonathan Schooler, psychologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The researchers presented 145 undergraduate students with two 'unusual uses' tasks that gave them two minutes to list as many uses as possible for everyday objects such as toothpicks, clothes hangers and bricks. After the two minutes were over, participants were given a 12-minute break, during which they rested, undertook a demanding memory activity that required their full attention or engaged in an undemanding reaction-time activity known to elicit mind-wandering. A fourth group of students had no break. All participants were then given four unusual-uses tasks, including the two that they had completed earlier. Those students who had done the undemanding activity performed an average of 41% better at the repeated tasks the second time they tried them. By contrast, students in the other three groups showed no improvement. "We've traditionally found that rapid-eye-movement sleep grants creative insight. That allowing the mind to wander does the same is absolutely fascinating. I think they are on to something really interesting here, " says Sara Mednick, a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside. Participants who engaged in the undemanding task did not do any better than others on unusual-uses tasks that they encountered for the first time in the second round. "The implication is that mind-wandering was only helpful for problems that were already being mentally chewed on. It didn't seem to lead to a general increase in creative problem-solving ability, " says Baird. As well as revealing that breaks on their own do not encourage creative thinking, Baird's work suggests an explanation for one of psychology's great mysteries: why we zone out. From an evolutionary perspective, mind-wandering seems totally counterproductive and has been viewed as dysfunctional because it compromises people's performance in physical activities. However, Baird's work shows that allowing the brain to enter this state when it is considering complex problems can have real benefits. Zoning out may have aided humans when survival depended on creative solutions. The "eureka" moments in history actually refer to some _ . Answer: Mr. Brown first went to look at the underground-fire when he was seven. "Through the hole in the earth you could see the orange fire, but you had to look fast because it was so hot," said Mr. Brown. In 1898,he saw the fire once more. Now, we can only see the smoke. The fire Mr. Brown saw is not the underground-fire. In fact ,there are 260 coal fires in the world. They are harmful and dangerous. Then how to put them out? Scientists have tried to set fire to underground coal to speed up the fires. In this way, the burning of underground coal would be soon finished. What is the best title for the article? Answer: My father woke me up early one summer morning when I was fourteen and announced: "Get up. You're going with me to cut grass." The idea that my father thought I was old enough to help him in his business made me feel proud and excited. From sunup to sundown, my father, my younger brother and I worked in the large yards in a rich part of Atlanta, Georgia. By the end of the day I was tired out, but I felt good. I had put in a hard day's labor and had earned $ 6 One day my father found some leaves I'd missed and pulled me aside. "Clear away these leaves!" he said firmly, "and don't make me have to do it again." The message was clear. Today I value the importance of doing a job right the first time. It will never fail to impress the person you are working for. After two years, my father told me and my brother that he felt we were old enough to do lawns on our own. Every Saturday during our last two years of high school, we set out early in the morning with the same desire and drive we had gained while working under our father. Taking care of lawns was not exciting or high-paying, but that didn't matter. It taught me that any job was a good job and that whatever I was paid was more than I had before. A newspaper reporter once asked me how someone could possibly live on a forty-hour-a-week minimum pay. "My father has never worked just forty hours a week, and neither have I," I replied. "If you're only working forty hours, you probably don't want to do any better than you are doing." In every job I've held from doing lawns to washing dishes, I have learned something that helped me in my next job. If you work hard enough, you can learn from any job you do. Which of the following is the most important thing that the writer has learned from his father? Answer: You're jogging at a steady pace, enjoying your favorite music through your headphones. Your breath is short and your heart is pumping. Your legs feel like they couldn't carry you any faster. And then you hear the groan of a zombie over your right shoulder. You must run or be eaten. The zombie apocalypse isn't upon you. You're just taking part in the latest fitness craze--Smartphone apps that make a fun and interactive game out of your daily workout. Software developers are taking advantage of Smartphone's advanced technology--GPS, accelerometers , MP3 players--to create "immersive" fitness games that appeal to both desperate and reluctant exercises. It's part of an overall trend in the fitness industry toward making your daily workout "a fun experience rather than something you have to do," said Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise. "We are attempting more "play" opportunities as opposed to working out, basically getting people to move and having fun while they are doing it," Matthews said. One popular fitness game app, Zombies, Run!, places you in the role of a supplies runner for a walled community trying to survive against the walking dead. During your run, the game's surprising complex story unfolds through your headphones. You "pick up" supplies for the community as you jog along. At certain intervals, you're warned that zombies are nearby, and if you don't pick up the pace, you'll have to pitch some supplies to keep from being caught. The game doesn't end once your jog is over. After your workout, you can use the supplies you picked up during your running to fortify your community. The GPS statistics from your run are uploaded automatically to the game's website, so you can review your average speed and the estimated calories you burned. Teemo, Nexercise and Fitocracy all allow you to post your latest workout to share with friends. Some games have you work with friends to reach a common goal--completing a relay race, for example--while others encourage competition. "That's another big area, having that social component," Matthews said, "Having social support of some kind is a critical factor in adhering to an exercise program. For some people, having that friendly competition or the feeling of being on a team can help them stay motivated." Which is the best title of the passage? Answer:
Have you lost your marbles ? Don't worry! You can buy more from Harli Jordean. Harli Jordean, the 8-year-old kid, soon to be 9, is just too lovely. He was born in Stoke Newington, London in spring 2003. He started up an Internet marble company where he sells the toys. And recently the 8-year-old student was written into the record books for being the youngest founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of an Internet company. Harli's love for marbles got rolling when he was 6. According to Tina, Harli's mother, he loved the colcorful toys so much that he would go to sleep talking about marbles and the first thing in the morning he did was talking about marbles. And his family started calling him "the Marble King". "I like the patterns and designs of marbles. You can collect hundreds of different color1s, shaps, and sizes. It's fun," Harli told WR News. "And I really enjoy looking at them, touching them, holding them, studying them and playing them with my friends." Harli Jordean's marble company has a long history. After losing his marbles to an older boy, Harli and his mom turned to the Internet for ordering more marbles. However, they couldn't find a Web site that sold the toys. That gave Harli an idea-to start a Web site where people could find different types of marbles. With his family's help, Harli created a Web site that sells marbles and marble accessories. His collection includes tiny and large marbles, along with clear and color1ful ones. Since starting his business, Harli has learned how to work with marble suppliers and fill orders. In the past two years, he's received orders from customers around the world. Some of the countries where he has sold the most marbles are Brazil, Italy, and the United States. Most kids just love marbls! So how does Harli feel about being the world's youngest CEO? "It feels marvelous . I like having my own company. I like being the boss," he says. "It really ...surprised me and probably ... my teachers too. I don't think they believed me when I used to say to them 'I have a marble business'!" Which of the following sentences is right? Answer: Every foreign student who has been accepted to study in this country must have a legal document called a visa from the prefix = st1 /United Statesgovernment. A visa permits a foreign citizen to travel to theUnited Statesand request permission to enter the country. The rules for getting a visa can be found on the State Department Web site. The address is unitedstatesvisas. gov. Unitedstatesvisas is all one word. Another State Department Web site for students from other countries is educationusa. gov. If you are requesting a visa for the first time, you may have to appear at the American Embassy in your country to talk to an official. Each student should communicate with the Embassy to find out if such an interview is needed and when it can take place. It is important to apply for the visa early. State Department officials say national security is the most important issue in deciding if a person will be permitted to enter the United States. Officials must find out if a student is on any list of people with possible links to terrorists. Embassies can not issue a visa more than ninety days before the start of the educational program in the United States. If you are a student studying in theUnited Statesfor the first time, you will not be permitted to enter the country more than thirty days before the start of your classes. Foreign students accepted at an American school will receive a document called a Certificate of Eligibility. The State Department says each student must enter the country using the certificate provided by the school he or she will be attending. It is a violation of the law to enter the country on one school's certificate but attend another school. You are permitted to stay in the United Stateson a student visa for the length of your period of study. That means you can stay as long as you are a full-time student. Your college or university will provide the government with reports about your education as long as you continue to study there. We will have more information about that next week. According to the passage, a visa is _ . Answer: One morning, Charley, a little green frog, was sitting in a pond by the side of the road. Wanda, the neighborhood witch , was walking along the road. She was a good witch and dreamt to become a fairy godmother who can save people from trouble with magic powers. Wanda had been learning fairy godmother magic for 103 years. That morning, she decided to try the magic she had learned and bring happiness to others. Seeing Wanda, Charley cried, "Hi, Wanda." "Hi, Charley," replied Wanda, "I have a surprise for you." Then, Wanda waved her wand , said a magic word, and Charley turned into a prince! When Charley-turned-prince looked at himself in the water, he cried, "Hey! You turned me into a prince! It's a surprise all right, but I don't want to be a prince! Change me back right now!" "Oh, dear," Wanda said. "you shouted so loud that I forgot the way to change you back. But who wouldn't rather be a prince?" "I wouldn't!" cried Charley. "I want to be a frog!" He stuck out his tongue, missing a bug flying by the end of his nose. "Look at that, Wanda! I was a good fly catcher. But now, this tongue is too short! Please change me back!" "I can't, Charley. But you'll learn to be happy as a prince." She waved her wand, and suddenly a castle appeared. Out of the castle dozens of musicians were playing various instruments. "Charley! You'll have servants, eat delicious foods, and you can sing and dance and snap fingers ." "No!" Charley interrupted. "I don't want all these! I want bugs!" Charley cried. "I don't want to sing and dance! And why would I do something as silly as snapping my fingers?" "Snapping fingers!" cried out Wanda. "That's what I forgot!" She snapped her fingers, cried "Upsi-doodle!" and the castle and musicians disappeared and the prince became a little green frog." Charley looked at himself in the water. " _ , Wanda. Oh, happy day! I'm a frog." "I must apologize, Charley," Wanda said, "you are a happy frog. I should know this a moment ago." Wanda turned Charley from a frog into a prince _ Answer: Oil platforms originating from a number of oceanic placements can be related to an unintentional release of what? Answer: If you are invited to a party by the Austrians and the suggested dress is "informal " (usually marked in the lower left-hand coner of the invitation) , it may mean dark suit and a white shirt for men and cocktail dress( ) for women. Or again, may mean something considerably less formal. "Formal" means a black tie and evening dress for men and a floor-length dress for women. If a man is in doubt about what to wear, he may come slightly overdressed and then take his coat and tie off when he sees that others are wearing sports shirts. National dress is always acceptable. If a lady receives an invitation marked with "formal", she should wear Answer:
Skidding causes friction, as seen in Answer: DEAR AMY: We recently had to put our cat down. It came out of the blue. We had no idea that he had health problems, and we woke up early one morning to the cat crying out painfully. We immediately rushed him to the vet's where the vet said that at best treatment might lengthen his life by two to three months. We did not want to see him suffer, so we chose to kill the cat in a painless way. I am having a rough time! I cry when I am alone. I cry when I see pet commercials on television. I put away everything that reminds me of the cat. But the last sight of seeing the cat in pain plays over and over in my head. My kids seem alright with what has happened, but why am I struggling? It has only been one week since his passing, so I hope things will get better. Do you have any suggestions? Yours, Sad DEAR SAD: There is no loss quite like the loss of a pet; these animals keep us company through important life passages and are beloved witnesses to our human lives. I understand your instinct to put away all of your cat's things, but it may help you now to memorialize your pet by using these things. Each family member can write down favorite things about him or memories of him; read their memories aloud and put the papers inside his bowl. The idea is to replace those painful last memories with much more lively memories taking place over the most of the animal's life. Time will then do its job, which is to affect your feelings. And then, when you're ready, I hope you will adopt another animal and give it the opportunity to share your life. Yours, Amy The author cried when seeing pet commercials on television because . Answer: Imagine, one day,getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours,and then,after a full day of work,going back home to Beijing and having dinner there. Sounds unusual,doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic,with the development of China's high-speed railway system.And that's not all.China has an even greater high-speed railway plan -- to connect the country with Southeast Asia,and eventually Eastern Europe. China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years,eventually reaching London and Singapore. China has proposed three such projects.The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia.Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,and possibly to Germany.The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe. If China's plan for the high-speed railway goes forward,people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days. The new system would still follow China's high-speed railway standard.And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour. China's bullet train ,the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou,already has the World's fastest average speed.It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours. Of course,there are some technical challenges to overcome.There are so many issues that need to be settled,such as safety,rail gauge ,maintenance of railway tracks.So,it's important to pay attention to every detail. But the key issue is really money.China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion. China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment.Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development. It'll be a win-win project. For other countries,the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business,tourism and so on,not to mention the better communication among those countries. For China,such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources,but would also help develop China's far west.We foresee that in the coming decades,millions of people will migrate to the western regions,where the land is empty and resources unused.With high-speed trains,people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all.And they'll trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage? Answer: We live in a digital world now, and a student's technology needs have changed. For the early years, when you are in primary school, you can get by with no technology at all. Even if you have a computer, it's a good idea to get children familiar with libraries. At this age, trips to the library are like family outings. As you get closer to middle school, a computer with Internet access becomes more of a necessity. Teachers will often give assignments that require a student to use the Internet for research. After a computer, technology choices for students become more difficult to make - especially when it comes to cell-phones. Kids will beg their parents for a cell-phone, especially in middle school. For many parents, it's a safety issue: They want to know that their kids can reach them quickly if necessary. For teachers, cell phones can be used to record lessons when students are absent. But many teachers dislike cell-phones. Some kids send messages or have talks in the class. Sending messages also raises the problem of cheating on exams. More and more schools are now forbidding the use of cell-phones. Many kids see iPods as necessary things to have. IPods are great for music, but do they do anything good for your children's education? Maybe they do. s the opinion of Doug Johnson, an educator for 30 years. Johnson says that educators should accept all new forms of technology in the classroom, including iPods. "Some do more with their cell- phones than we can do with our laptops," he jokes. "I don't think we should be afraid. The truth is that it's easier to change the way we teach than to change the technology habits of an entire generation." The following are all reasons why many teachers dislike cell-phones EXCEPT _ . Answer: One day a lonely girl found two weak birds while she was walking in the woods . She took them home and put them in a small cage. She fed them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a beautiful song. The girl loved them very much and wanted their singing to last forever. One day the girl left the cage's door open. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew out of the cage. The girl watched worriedly as it circled high above her. She was afraid that it would fly away and she would never see it again. So when it flew close, she grasped at it wildly. She was very happy that she held it tightly within her hand! Suddenly, she felt something had happened to the bird. She opened her hand and was surprised to find the bird was dead. Her love for the bird killed it. She noticed the other bird jumping in the cage. She could feel that it wanted to be free. It hoped to fly into the clear, blue sky. She lifted it from the cage and flew it into the air. The bird circled once, twice, three times... When the bird was flying happily in the sky, she was so glad. Just then the bird flew closer and sat softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest song she had ever heard. One day the girl forgot to close the door to the cage and _ of the two birds flew out of the cage. Answer:
Miss Evans was going to give a lecture on Friday afternoon. But on Thursday night she was told that she had to go to an important meeting the next day at the same time. "No one can be in two places at the same time. What shall I do?" she thought. But soon, she had an idea. At five to three on Friday afternoon, Miss Evans went to the lecture room. There were twenty students waiting there for her. "I'm sorry," she told them, "I won't be able to give my lecture today." The students looked surprised. Miss Evans explained that she had an important meeting. "However," she went on, "though I can't be with you myself, my voice can." Then she put a small tape recorder on the desk, "You see, I've recorded my lecture and you can listen to it without me." Miss Evans turned on the recorder and left. The meeting ended a little early. Miss Evans decided to go back to her students. She stood for a moment outside the lecture room, listening to her own voice. Then quickly, she opened the door. To her surprise, the room was empty. As she looked around, she saw a number of small recorders "listening" to her lecture! "Well," she thought, "If I can be in two places at the same time, why can't they?" When she returned from the meeting, Miss Evans found _ her lecture. A. all her students listening to B. every student recording C. her students had left some recorders recording D. some of her students listening to Answer: C. her students had left some recorders recording World Car Free Day is a very important day on the environmental calendar. Every September 22, governments, green groups and ordinary citizens stress the damage cars are doing to the earth. The day is a reminder that we do not need to rely so much on cars. Those who take part in the activity hope that we all should realize we do not have to accept our car-controlled society. Carlos Pardo from Colombia's Sustainable Urban Transport Project said, "World Car Free Day is not only a celebration of fun ways to get around the city, but a demonstration of traffic-free streets and clean air is possible. But we do not want just one day of celebration and then a return to normal life. When people get out of their cars, they should stay out of their cars. It is up to us, our cities and our governments to help create lasting change to benefit walkers, cyclists and other people who do not drive cars. " Car-free days were organized as early as during the 1970s, and several car-free days were organized in European cities during the early 1990s. An international car-free day was organized in Europe in 1999. The European Union adopted the idea in 2000. Today, as many as 100 million people in over 1500 cities worldwide celebrate this day. World Car Free Day aims to take a large number of cars off the streets for all or part of a day. This will give people a chance to see what their town might look like with fewer cars. But some people say it is a one-day trick and does not make people give up their cars for the rest of the year. They say what is needed is a move towards a more sustainable city transportation system. What can be inferred from the passage? A. No cars can be seen on World Car Free Day B. Further action is needed to make people drive less C. Car-free days first appeared about 50 years ago. D. Most people in the world are celebrating the day Answer: B. Further action is needed to make people drive less Spending hours playing violent video games prevents teenagers from their moral growth, a study has found.It is thought that regular touch to violence and lack of contact with the outside world makes it harder for them to tell right from wrong.They also struggle to trust other people,and see the world from their viewpoints. Researchers from Brock University in Ontario found that those who spend more than three hours each day in front of the screen are particularly unlikely to have developed the ability to empathise . The Canadian researchers surveyed 109 boys and girls,aged 13 and 14,about whether they played video games,which games they liked,and how long they spent playing them.Their findings found that 88 percent of teens said they played games,and more than half admitted to playing games everyday.Violent games were among the most popular. The teenagers also filled in a questionnaire designed to measure their moral development.For example,they were asked how important it is to save the life of a friend. Previous studies have suggested that a person's moral judgement goes through four phases as they grow from children and enter adulthood.By the age of 13 or 14,scientists claim young people should be entering the third stage,and be able to empathise with others and take their viewpoints into account.The research found that this stage appeared to be delayed in teenagers who regularly played violent video games. It is also thought that teenagers who play games regularly did not spend enough time in the real world to learn to take other's thoughts into consideration.Researcher Mirjana Bajovic said:"The present results indicate that some teenagers;who spent three or more hours a day playing violent video games,are deprived of such opportnnities."Writing in the journal Educational Media International.the researchers added:"Touch to violence in video games may influence the development of moral reasoning because violence is not only presented as acceptable but is also justified and rewarded." They concluded that rather than trying to enforce an'unrealistic'ban on the games, parents and teachers should encourage teenagers to do charity work and take up after-school activities. What can be inferred from the text? A. Parents and teachers should let teens go online. B. Playing video games should be forbidden among teens. C. Game designers should be kindly treated and rewarded. D. Teens should be encouraged to do more meaningful things. Answer: D. Teens should be encouraged to do more meaningful things. Tom and his best friend Rob were out of school for the summer. They had been swimming, gone to the movies, played video games, and even built a castle out of some old cardboard boxes. But today they were so bored. "At least we would have something to do." Tom thought for a while and suggested, "Let's make some popcorn and lemonade and sell it outside." The boys went to the kitchen and asked Tom's mom if she would help them make some lemonade while they popped the popcorn. Tom's mom got the lemons from the refrigerator and also a small amount of sugar. She mixed up the lemonade while the boys started popping the popcorn. Tom and Rob got a small table from the garage and set it up near the sidewalk. They made a red sign telling everyone that popcorn and lemonade was for sale. The boys sat for about ten minutes before they got their first sale. Mrs. Jenkins, one of their neighbors, was walking her dog. "It's so hot today." "I sure can use a drink," she said. Soon the boys were busy handing out popcorn to Mr. Baker. He was walking down the street sending the mail. "I need a break," he said. "Walking all over the neighborhood gave me an appetite." The boys had only three popcorn bags left and enough lemonade for three more cups. "Wow, I didn't think the popcorn and lemonade would sell that fast. We made six dollars," said Tom. "If we get bored again before school starts, we can try selling more lemonade with cookies next time," laughed Rob. Where did Tom and Rob set up the table? A. Near the sidewalk. B. In the kitchen. C. At the supermarket. D. Outside the school. Answer: A. Near the sidewalk. Dead organisms, like trees provide A. thriving communities B. families C. love D. heat Answer: A. thriving communities
Tom and Mike are good friends. They are good with children. They want to find jobs in summer vacation. This Friday Tom tells Mike that Sunson School Trip needs teachers to help with sports, music and computer. Mike is glad to know that. Tom can play basketball, volleyball, and he can swim. Mike can play the violin, the trumpet, the drums and the guitar, and he can swim,too. Tom and Mike like computers very much. Can they join Sunson School Trip? Tom and Mike like _ very much. Answer: "Hi, Jenny!" "Hi, Brian! What class do you have next?" "I have art next," says Brian. "It's my favourite. I draw six pictures every week." "You are a good painter ," says Jenny. "I see some of your pictures. They are beautiful. I like art too, but I am not good at it. I am not going to be a painter when I am older!" "I tell you, Jenny," says Brian. "Art is interesting for everyone. You don't need to be good at it." "You are right, Brian," says Jenny. "And I like our art teacher. He teaches us a lot. I am much better at art this year. "Yes. Mr. Smith is good. He looks like a great painter too, with his long hair and big beard ." "When do you have art lesson, Jenny?" asks Brian. Jenny looks at her timetable. "I have art tomorrow morning," she says. "What class are you going to now?" asks Brian. "I'm going to music class. It's one of my favourites! We are learning a new song this week. I love to sing. What's the time, please?" Brian looks at his watch. "Oh, no! It's 2:13! There are only two minutes!" "Hurry, Brian!" says Jenny. "We don't want to be late for class! See you later." "Okay. I am going to art class. See you after school!" What can we know about the art teacher? Answer: Dear Lily, Welcome to our school for a visit. I am very glad to tell you how to get to our school. Here is the _ . When you walk out of the station, please turn left, walk on and pass a crossing. You should walk on till the first traffic light and turn right. Then you will find a park on your left side. Walk along the street and pass the park. Then you will see a bank. Across from the bank is a narrow lane .Just go into the lane and walk about 100 meters, and you are sure to get to our school gate, at which the board reads No.1 Middle School in both Chinese and English. Yours, Li Ming Is there a traffic light on the way to school? Answer: The first ancient Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BC. Coroebus won the only event at the Olympics. This made him the first Olympic champion in history. Then the Olympic Games developed and continued to be held every four years. In 393 AD, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, put a stop to the Games. In 1892, a young Frenchman named Pierre de Coubertin suggested starting the Olympic Games again but failed. Two years later, Coubertin organized a meeting with 79 people representing nine countries. At this meeting he got what he wanted. All the delegates at the meeting voted for the Olympic Games. They also decided to have Coubertin found an international committee to organize the Games. This committee became the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Demetrious Vikelas from Greece was chosen to be its first president. Athens was chosen for the revival of the Olympic Games and the planning began. The first modern Olympic Games opened in the first week of April, 1896. Since the Greek government didn't have enough money to build a stadium, a wealthy Greek man, Georgios Averoff, donated over $100,000 to repair the Panathenaic Stadium built in 330 BC.Since the Games were not well publicized internationally, athletes were not nationally chosen but rather came by themselves. Some athletes were tourists who happened to be in the area during the Games. The best title for the passage would be _ . Answer: Once a group of 17-year-old schoolboys decided to break the world basketball marathon record . They wanted to play for ninety hours and that is to add six hours to the record. Each team had nine players, with five at a time. The boys decided each person would play 21. 5 hours and then rest for 2 hours. Then they started at 6 o'clock in the evening. The first night was very hard for the players. When it was their turn to rest, they were too excited to fall asleep at once. After sleeping for a short time, they had to play again. On the second night, they fell asleep as soon as they stopped. Some of them had trouble with their feet and hands, but the only serious problem was a psychological one. Each boy was thinking:why am I doing this?How can I play any longer?After the third night, the players knew they could finish the ninety hours. The basketball on the fourth night was very slow. But in the final hours, the players got better. For the last few minutes, the players looked as fresh as when they started. How happy everyone was! Which of the following sentences is wrong? _ . Answer:

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