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As a professor at a large American university, there is a phrase that I often hear from students: “I’m only a 1,050.” The unlucky students are speaking of the score on the Schoolastic Aptitude Test (SAT), which is used to determine whether they will be admitted to the college or university of their choice, or even if they have a chance to get a higher education at all. The SAT score, whether it is 800, 1,100 or 1,550, has become the focus at his time of their life.
It is obvious that if students value highly their test scores, then a great amount of their self-respect is put in the number. Students who perform poorly in the exam are left feeling that it is all over.The low test score, they think, will make it impossible for them to get into a good college. And without a degree from a prestigious university, they fear that many of life’s doors will remain forever closed.
According to a study done in the 1990s, the SAT is only a reliable indicator of a student’s future performance in most cases. Interestingly, it becomes much more accurate when it is set together with other indicators--like a student’s academic proficiency(学业水平).They will never be able to test things like confidence, efforts and willpower, and are unable to give us the full picture of a student’s potentialities. This is not to suggest that we should stop using SAT scores in our college admission process. The SAT is an excellent test in many ways, and the score is still a useful means of testing students. However, it should be only one of the many methods used.
1. The purpose of the SAT is to test students’ _________.
A. strong will
B. academic ability
C. full potentialities
D. confidence in school work
2. Students’ self-respect is influenced by their_______.
A. scores in the SAT
B. achievements in mathematics
C. job opportunities
D. money spent on education
3. “ A prestigious university” in para.2 is most probably _______.
A. a famous school
B. a technical school
C. a traditional school
D. an expensive school
4. The passage is mainly about_______________.
A. how to prepare for the SAT
B. stress caused by the SAT
C. American higher education
D. the SAT and its effects
5. What is the writer’s attitude towards the SAT?
A. Subjective
B. Objective
C. Critical
D. Approving
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don’t worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn’t really matter .If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech — “ I have a dream”, you may notice that he stumbles（结巴）his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don’t remember. Why? Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making. People care a lot about making mistakes in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker’s attractiveness by making him more human.
As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being imperfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.
1. The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ______ .
A. be smarter than you
B. notice your mistakes
C. do better than you
D. know what you are talking about
2. You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ___________.
A. your attention is on the content
B. you don’t fully understand the speech
C. you know what the speaker plans to say
D. you find the way of speech-making more important
3. It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.
A. giving a speech is like giving a performance
B. one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad
C. the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made
D. the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be
4. What would be the best title of the passage?
A. How to Be a Perfect Speaker
B. How to Make a Perfect Speech
C. Don’t Expect a Perfect Speech
D. Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech
5.Which of the following statements is true?
A. If you are careful enough, you can make a perfect speech.
B. Speech-making is a kind of performance.
C. Listeners are not judges and they pay more attention to the message.
D. Martin Luther King is not a good speaker.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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COn May 8, last Thursday morning, the Olympic flame was lit on the top of Mount Qomolangma! It was a historic moment for China exactly three months ahead of the Beijing Games.
Tibetan female climber Cering Wangmo reached the summit with a special extreme-altitude Olympic torch. This event is what China has promised to the world as the high point of the torch relay, the longest and most challenging of all time.
Five torchbearers(火炬手) finished the highest relay ever—three of the climbers are Tibetan athletes.
Team members said “Beijing welcomes you!” in Chinese, English and Tibetan, as they stood at the summit celebrating, with the event broadcast on national television.
“I finally fulfilled the last dream of my husband,” said Gyigyi with tears in her eyes. She was the first torchbearer. Her husband lost his life in an attempt to climb all 14 mountains in China more than 8,000 meters three years ago.
“We are on top of the world! One world, one dream,” shouted Nima Cering, at the top of his voice. He said that although he had climbed the peak（峰顶）several times, this was the most significant ascent(登高). “As a Tibetan and a Chinese I pray for the success of Beijing 2008,” he added.
The special torch is different from the one currently touring the Chinese mainland, after an around-the-world relay. Officials organizing the trek up the peak had earlier set an April 26 target to begin the ascent, but high winds and heavy snow had delayed the mission.
The Xinhua News Agency said that the Qomolangma leg of the torch relay represents the Olympic motto, “higher, faster and stronger,” in practice and will promote unity among all 56 ethnic groups in China.
1.It was a historic moment because ______.
A. some Tibetan torchbearers took part in it
B. it was lit three months before the Olympic Games were held
C. it was the first time that the Olympic torch had been lit on the top of Mount Qomolangma
D. it was the longest attempt in history
2.Which is RIGHT according to the whole passage?
A. All the five torchbearers are men.
B. Only the five torchbearers reached the summit.
C. Team members said “Beijing welcomes you!” in their native language.
D. At least two of the five torchbearers are females.
3. What does the word “leg” underlined in the last paragraph refer to?
A. One part of a journey or race.
B. One of the long parts that connect the feet to the rest of the body.
C. The leg of an animal, especially the top part, cooked and eaten.
D. The part of a pair of trousers that covers the leg.
4. What would be the best title for the text?
A. One world, one dream
B. Torch relay reaches its highest point
C. Qomolangma, the highest summit in the world
D. A special torch
5. Where can you read about this passage?
A. In the English textbook.
B. In the newspaper.
C. In the science report.
D. On the street wall.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest- and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas . In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Disappearance of African elephants.
B. Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
C. The effect of African elephants' search for food.
D. The eating habit of African elephants.
2. What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A. Fixing the time.
B. Worsening the state.
C. Improving the quality.
D. Deciding the conditions.
3. What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A. They result from the destruction of rain forests.
B. They provide food mainly for African elephants.
C. They are home to many endangered animals.
D. They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. The African elephant is the largest animal on earth.
B. African elephants have 300 pounds of plants every day.
C. The African elephant is in a way the builder of the environment like all the other land animals.
D. If the African elephant disappears, the whole ecosystem won’t be affected.
5. The passage is developed mainly by ________.
A. showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B. pointing out similarities and differences
C. describing the changes in space order
D. giving examples
难度: 中等查看答案及解析