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When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter(炼铜厂), and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.
Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back. The answer from that big industry was “No.”
Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren't any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds. It would be a waste of his life to try to do it. Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn’t get his idea accepted.
Paul later got married and had some kids. But his dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. As Samuel Johnson wrote, “It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. Attainable good is often ignored by minds busied in wide ranges.” Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.
And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against the plain common sense. Slowly rabbits appeared. Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.
Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow he made to himself as a child.
1. When Paul was a boy, _____.
A. he had decided never to leave his hometown
B. the economy of Utah depended wholly on the copper smelter
C. no laws were made to protect the environment against pollution
D. he determined to stop the copper smelter polluting the area
2. Why did Paul go to college to study the science of plants?
A. He wanted to find out the best way to save the area himself.
B. He was interested in planting trees since he was young.
C. He wanted to get more knowledgeable people to help him.
D. He thought his knowledge would make his advice more persuasive.
3. What does the underlined phrase “the plain common sense” probably refer to?
A. That it was impossible for trees to grow on the wasteland.
B. That his normal work and life would be greatly affected.
C. That no one would like to join him in the efforts.
D. That he had to keep everything he did secret.
4. The main idea of the passage is that _____.
A. action speaks louder than words
B. perseverance will work wonders
C. God helps those who help themselves
D. many hands make light work
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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Remembering names is an important social skill. Here are some ways to master it.
l Recite and repeat in conversation.
When you hear a person's name, repeat it. Immediately say it to yourself several times without moving your lips. You could also repeat the name in a way that does not sound forced or artificial.
l Ask the other person to recite and repeat.
You can let other people help you remember their names. After you've been introduced to someone, ask that person to spell the name and pronounce it correctly for you. Most people will be pleased by the effort you're making to learn their names.
l Admit you don't know.
Admitting that you can't remember someone's name can actually make people relaxed. Most of them w ill feel sympathy if you say. "I'm working to remember names better. Yours is right on the tip of my tongue. What is it again?"
l Use associations.
Link each person yon meet with one thing you find interesting or unusual. For example, you could make a mental note: "Vicki Cheng - tall, black hair." To reinforce your associations, write them on a small card as soon as possible.
l Limit the number of new names you learn at one time.
When meeting a group of people, concentrate on remembering just two or three names. Free yourself from remembering every one. Few of the people in mass introductions expect you to remember their names. Another way is to limit yourself to learning just first names. Last names can come later.
l Go early.
Consider going early to conferences, parties and classes. Sometimes just a few people show up on time. That's fewer names for you to remember. And as more people arrive, you can hear them being introduced to others - an automatic review for you.
1.How will most people feel when you try hard to remember their names?
A. They will be moved. B. They will be annoyed.
C. They will be delighted. D. They will be discouraged.
2. If you can't remember someone's name, you may _______.
A. tell him the truth B. tell him a white lie
C. ask him for pity D. ask others to help you
3.When you meet a group of people, it is better to remember ______
A. all their names B. a couple of names first
C. just their last names D. as many names as possible
4. What does the text mainly tell us?
A. Tips on an important social skill. B. Importance of attending parties.
C. How to make use of associations. D. How to recite and repeat names.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific purpose in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become.
When I was a kid in the New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not the desperate steeplechases（障碍赛跑） they have become today. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother—the same house my father was raised in, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek.
The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for an hour of devotion, an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there were no chores that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, different from all the other days of the week, because everyone seemed to be on the same schedule, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else.
Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it’s surprising to consider that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association. In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visiting someone else’s home on Sunday.
But now the question is, “What do you plan to DO this Sunday?” The answer can range from going to the mall to participating in a road race to jetting to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such an answer would feel sepia-toned, an echo from another era.
I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land and tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state’s powerfully rural cast（特质）still harbors at least remnants of the ethic of yesterday’s America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries（反复无常的情况）and a challenging environment.
1.The writer’s general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when _______.
A. everyone was paying a visit to some relative far away
B. everyone seemed to be free and could have some leisure
C. Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house
D. nearly every adult would go to church and children were not at school
2.In the fourth paragraph, the writer compares the response “I’m making a Sunday visit to family” to an echo from another era because _______.
A. people nowadays prefer staying at home on Sunday
B. such answers are rarely heard in our modern society
C. people in the city dislike being disturbed on Sunday
D. visiting someone on Sunday might take a lot of time
3.From the last paragraph we may infer that _______.
A. people in Maine suffer more from economic depression and the changed environment
B. people in Maine has abandoned their tradition and lived an absolute new life
C. land in Maine is short, thus the relationship between people is tense
D. people in Maine always help each other when they are in need
4.．Which word we may use to describe the writer’s attitude towards the Sunday today?
A. Unsatisfied. B. Anxious. C. Treasured. D. Teased.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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Dear Daughter,As we drove off from Columbia, I wanted to write a letter to you to tell you all that is on my mind.
First, I want to tell you how proud we are. Getting into Columbia is a real proof of what a great well-rounded student you are. You should be as proud of yourself as we are.
It is in college that you will discover what learning is about. This will be the period where you go from teacher-taught to master-inspired, after which you must become self-learner. So do take each subject seriously, and even if what you learn isn’t critical for your life, the learning skills you acquire will be something you will treasure forever.
Follow your passion in college. Take courses you think you will enjoy. Don’t be trapped by what others think or say, but make up your own mind.
Most importantly, make friends and be happy. Pick a few friends and become really close to them – pick the ones who are genuine to you. Don’t worry about their grades, looks, or even personalities.
Start planning early. I think your plan to study fashion is good, and you should decide where you want to be, and get onto the right courses.
Whether it is coursework planning or picking a major, you should take control of your life. I will always be there for you, but the time has come for you to be in the driver’s seat – this is your life, and you need to be in control. Being in control feels great.
So please treasure your college years – make the best of your free time, become an independent thinker in control of your destiny fate, learn and grow through your successes and challenges.
May your years at Columbia be the happiest of your life, and may you blossom into just what you dream to be.
Love,
Dad (& Mom)
1.According to the letter the author’s daughter is ______.
A. scared to be leaving home B. a well-rounded student
C. the pride of her university D. learning to drive a car
2. Which advice below is given to his daughter by the author?
A. Party with friends in her free time.
B. Ignore what others think or say.
C. choose friends with similar personalities.
D. Treasure and make the best of her college years.
3. From the passage, we can conclude the father is ______.
A. worried about his daughter B. strict with his daughter
C. positive about his daughter’s future D. sad about his daughter’s leaving home
4.From the letter we can draw a conclusion that_________.
A. the daughter will no longer need her father’s help
B. the father will also gives the daughter advice on everything
C. the father will help the daughter when she meets with trouble
D. the daughter will not accept her father’s help in college.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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Whenever human populations have lived in forest areas, they have always cut down trees which they used for a number of purposes, for housing and ships and served as a source of heating fuel and timber. Growth of cities often meant expansion into forest areas, while even more trees were removed to provide space for agriculture. With the growing demand for paper, vast quantities of trees have also been cut down for paper production. These factors, along with many others, have been contributing to a dangerous phenomenon known as deforestation.
In the last 5,000 years, humans have reduced forest from roughly 50 percent of the earth’s land surface to less than 20 percent. Most of this original, or old growth, forest cover is concentrated in three large areas: the Canadian and Alaskan boreal forest, the boreal forest of Russia, and the tropical forest of the northwestern Amazon Basin and the Guyana Shield. These areas comprise almost 70 percent of the world’s remaining original forest cover. In most places, the rate of deforestation is increasing, with the alarming result of 16 million hectares disappearing worldwide every year.
Loss of forest does not just mean the decline of natural resources. There are several other factors that make deforestation seriously harmful to both the human and natural worlds. One of them is changes in the global climate. For example, forest clearance is releasing substantial volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere as vegetation is burnt or decays. It has been suggested that this is a significant factor in global warming. Moreover, about 10 percent of the world’s tree species are in danger of extinction as a result of deforestation. Deforestation also threatens biological diversity through the destruction of wildlife habitats, which endangers a number of animal species and leads to their potential disappearance. Species are particularly easy to extinction in tropical rainforests because many species have few individuals per unit area, which makes reproduction more difficult. Finally, since forests play an important role in storing water and stabilizing soil, deforestation and the resulting change in land use cause soil erosion (腐蚀) and other forms of land degradation.
1.The passage discusses all of the following EXCEPT the ________.
A. causes of deforestation B. consequences of deforestation
C. management of deforestation D. rate of deforestation
2. The word “diversity” in the last paragraph probably means “________”.
A. variety B. expansion
C. development D. advantage
3.Why does the author mention fuel and timber in Paragraph 1?
A. To explain the rate of deforestation.
B. To compare them with housing and ships.
C. To show the dangers of deforestation.
D. To illustrate the causes of deforestation.
4.Which of the following sentences summarizes Paragraph 3 best?
A. Deforestation threatens biological diversity.
B. Deforestation has many harmful consequences.
C. Deforestation causes changes in global climate.
D. Deforestation should be stopped.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析