I admire my father for as long as I can remember. I loved the way he treated people with such respect and kindness.
On Sundays we usually took the bus into Manhattan, where we would do interesting things, like riding the Circle Line. He would point out every landmark and tell us the history behind it. He loved to take us on the subway to Nathan’s in Coney Island. Once there, he would give my sister and me each a five-dollar bill and then he would enjoy himself for the afternoon with his newspapers.
In 1968, we went to see the movie “Oliver”, a Charles Dickens’ classic story of a young orphan(孤儿) boy called Oliver. On the way home from the theater that afternoon he told us how he was raised in an orphanage(孤儿院) in New York after both of his parents died. He told us the nuns(修女) were wonderful to him and loved him like a mother would. As he grew older, he was placed in a few foster(寄养) families before he joined the Army.
When we were teenagers, he still took us out each weekend and he would ask us to invite specific friends to join us and he would pay for them. We often went to Yankee Stadium to watch the baseball game and he bought us tickets in the least expensive seats. To keep the cost down, he waited for us in the car where he read his newspapers and then took a nap(小睡).
He was always happy and appreciated everything he had. He loved his two little girls and later his two granddaughters. He gave so much, yet he had so little. He thought he was the richest man in the world.
1.What would the writer’s father do when in Nathan’s?
A. He would do interesting things, like riding the Circle Line.
B. He would point out every landmark and have a good rest.
C. He would wait for us and read newspapers.
D. He would give my sister and me the chance to learn.
2.What did the writer’s father and Oliver have in common?
A. They both liked Charles Dickens’ stories.
B. They both had ever been an orphan.
C. They were both adopted(收养) by families.
D. They both had been a brave soldier.
3.How did the writer’s father find the life in the orphanage?
A. Terrible. B. Satisfying.
C. Tiring. D. Disappointing.
4.Why did the writer’s father choose to take a nap?
A. Because he wanted to save some money.
B. Because he wanted to buy us expensive seats.
C. Because he wanted to have a very good seat.
D. Because he wanted to reward his foster parents.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
People often say that there is nothing in the world that can be as great as a mother’s love. Some mother expressions mean just that. The phrase “mother lode” comes from mining. It means the place where the largest amount of gold can be found. But now, the term “mother lode” means a rich supply of anything. For example, you might say, “She just graduated from college and struck the mother lode with her new job!”
When we call something “the mother of all”, this means it is the biggest or best of something. Here is an example: “We are going to throw the mother of all parties this weekend. So you have to come!”
Naturally, the word “mother” can be used to mean to give birth, even to something you cannot touch, such as an idea or wisdom. The saying “necessity is the mother of invention” means that when people really need to do something, they will find a way to do it. And “experience is the mother of wisdom” means that people learn from what happens to them.
You might think all expressions about mothers are sweet and loving. Not so. A boy who is “tied to his mother’s apron strings(围裙带)” is controlled by his mother. We can also call him a “mama’s boy”. Both of these terms are even more insulting(侮辱人的) if you are talking about a man, not a young boy. It can be a huge mistake for a woman to marry a “mama’s boy” who is still “tied to his mother’s apron strings”.
A show about mothers would not be complete without talking about the very popular but mysterious “Mother Goose”. The short poems and songs that “Mother Goose” wrote are a part of growing up in the United States. Real or not, you could say “Mother Goose” is the mother of all nursery rhyme(童谣) writers.
1.The passage mainly tells us that ________.
A. all mother expressions are about nice things
B. mother is the greatest person in the world
C. there are some expressions about mother in English
D. mother’s love is the greatest thing in the world
2.If you strike the mother lode, you will ________.
A. be rich
B. get injured
C. have to work hard
D. get an easy job
3.When saying “I heard the mother of all songs”, the person means ________.
A. he heard your mother sing songs
B. mothers were good at singing
C. he loved songs about mothers
D. the song he heard was the best
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Why we cry with happiness show: Responding with a negative reaction helps us deal with extreme joy. If you cry with happiness at weddings, you are responding to a happy experience with a negative reaction. The researchers believe the unusual reaction may help renew emotional balance in us and keep extreme emotions under control. The findings make it clear how people express and control their emotions, which could help improve their understanding of people’s mental(精神的) health.
Dr Oriana Aragon set out to explore the phrase “tears of joy”, which she said never made sense to her. But after studying a series of incongruous(不和谐的) expressions, she now understands better why people cry when they are happy. “People may be renewing emotional balance with these expressions,” she explained. “They seem to take place when people are struck by strong positive emotions. People, who do this, seem to recover better from those strong emotions.”
The report show various examples of responding to a positive experience with a negative emotion, such as, a crying wife seeing the husband returning from war again, and teenage girls screaming at a Justin Bieber concert. Examples also include a baseball player who hits a home run, only to be slapped(拍) on the back by teammates, as well as when people cannot help kissing babies’ faces who they consider lovely.
Dr Aragon and her team discovered that people, who expressed negative reactions to positive news, were able to moderate(缓和) strong emotions more quickly. There is also some evidence that strong negative feelings may provoke positive expressions. For example, nervous laughter often happens when people are faced with a hard situation. We’ve seen people smiling during times of extreme sadness.
“The findings affect our knowledge of how people express and control their emotions, which is importantly related to mental and physical health, the quality of relationships with others, and even how well people work together,” Dr Aragon said.
1.What will an extremely happy person do, according to the passage?
A. He will jump with joy. B. He will keep silent.
C. He will calm down as usual. D. He will burst into tears.
2.By responding to happiness with negative reactions, people can ________.
A. hide the true feelings under a mask of politeness
B. renew emotional balance and control strong emotions
C. show off their rich emotions now and then
D. express themselves carefully in a special way
3.What does the underlined word “provoke” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. Lead to. B. Hold back.
C. Take in. D. Get over.
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. It’s common to express negative reactions to positive feelings.
B. When people cry, it means they are very happy.
C. Expressing and controlling emotions is important for humans.
D. Differences between positive and negative emotions.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
From now, if all goes well, a high-tech spacecraft will land in the South Pole of the moon. There, it will drill 66 feet down into the surface(表面) and collect samples of the mantle(地幔样本) to bring back to the earth.
But before it leaves, it will have a two-part time capsule(时光胶囊): a public part, full of the Earth’s history, and a private part, full of digital(数码的) memory boxes created by individuals(个人). These memory boxes can hold digital files — records of family trees, videos or actual DNA in the form of human hair. Not everyone can have a digital memory box, though. The boxes are only delivered for the people who donate the money to the project.
The project, called Lunar Mission One, has already raised more than half of its ￡600,000 goal since its launch(启动) just a few days ago. The founders thought that it would succeed because of the attraction of both exploring the moon surface and leaving a time capsule behind. The mission was a technical action, but it was also an emotional one, bringing the excitement of knowing that something humans built on the Earth reached somewhere else in space.
Still, it does seem risky(冒险的) for a person to donate￡60 to keep a digital memory box for a project that won’t come true until 2024. What if the project never takes off? What if the technology isn’t good enough? What if those digital memory boxes break on the moon’s surface? And how will anybody ever even know if that happens? Ian Crawford, a professor at Birkbeck College in London and scientific advisor to the mission, says it is not necessary to worry about these. The plan to leave a time capsule on the moon isn’t really about physically leaving something on the moon — it’s more an opportunity to encourage people’s interest in space.
1.Who can have a digital memory box on the moon?
A. A person who donated￡60 to the project.
B. A person who has records of family trees.
C. A person who is in charge of the project.
D. A person who is interested in exploring the moon.
2.What can be learned about Lunar Mission One from Paragraph 3?
A. The spacecraft was successfully launched just a few days ago.
B. It will explore the moon surface and leave a time capsule on the moon.
C. It was created because of the excitement of knowing something in space.
D. It was a technical action because it was designed with rich emotion.
3.Why does it seem risky to donate￡60 to keep a digital memory box?
A. Because the spacecraft won’t be sent on time.
B. Because the technology isn’t good enough.
C. Because the project won’t come true until 2034.
D. Because there are various possibilities in such a long time.
4.What can be concluded from the last sentence of the passage?
A. Everything about the project will be OK.
B. The time capsule on the moon is not meaningful.
C. The plan to leave a time capsule on the moon is scientific.
D. The message of the project is to call people’s more attention to space.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Are you afraid of failure? However, only by overcoming fear of failure can we achieve success in life. Here are some tips on how to remove fear and focus on success:
Understand that at times you make mistakes. 1. Before any of us learned how to walk, we crawled(爬行). We got up, fell down and got up again. We continued the process until we could walk quite well.
2. Instead, view it as a stepping stone. Make certain that you learn from failure and then use what you have learned in future situations. Refuse to consider failure a character weakness. Doing so will only prevent you from achieving future success.
Remember that failure has produced many successes. 3. Albert Einstein’s teacher told him to quit school and said, “Einstein, you will never achieve anything!” Beethoven’s music teacher said he was hopeless to become a composer(作曲家). Henry Ford’s first two car companies failed.
Appreciate the benefits of failure. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you try, the better you make.” It’s hardly possible for someone to achieve success for the first time he tries. 4.
Believe in yourself. Rather than give up when things don’t work out, take it as a chance to build perseverance(坚持不懈). Remind yourself how many failures became successful because they wouldn’t give up. 5.
A. Don’t take failure personally.
B. Work hard and try to avoid(避免) failure.
C. Realize that you are human and humans make mistakes.
D. Believe that you’ve got what it takes to work through the difficult times.
E. Making the same mistake again can lead to the failure in your future work.
F. Consider how many people in history had failed before they became successful.
G. In other words, your chances of getting things right on the first try are little.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Though the sun was shining, it was still cold here in the mountains. I was ______ home along the clear roads. The last ______ had been over a week ago but down the sides of the hills lining the highway, there were still ______ walls of ice. As I started to round a sharp turn, I ______ that a large piece of ice had broken off and fallen onto the road. I ______ turned my car to the other lane(车道) to ______ it.
After I did it, I noticed a small dog was walking in my former lane just beyond where the ice had ______. If I had still been in that lane, I would have surely ______ him. Slowing down, I honked(按喇叭) and the dog was ______. He looked at me for a moment and then ______ the road and got into the safety of the woods.
I pulled over to a ______ place and parked. Then I walked back to the ice and moved it ______ the road so that no one would hit it. As I walked back to my car, I looked up at the ______. The clouds had just parted again to ______ the sun to shine through. I smiled and ______ fate(命运) for putting that ice just where it needed to be to keep me from hitting that little dog.
As I ______ driving home, I started thinking of all the times that the traffic in my life must have been redirected(重新定向). How many times had I been the small dog walking into traffic only to have the “ice” so I wouldn’t be ______? How many times had fate given me another ______ to find my way back to the right path without being ______?
Fate ______ us all so much. So let’s live wisely and thankfully.
1.A. moving B. stepping C. driving D. walking
2.A. flood B. rain C. accident D. snow
3.A. huge B. strange C. colorful D. short
4.A. heard B. noticed C. remembered D. guessed
5.A. quickly B. bravely C. sadly D. frequently
6.A. catch B. see C. remind D. miss
7.A. changed B. disappeared C. fallen D. formed
8.A. pulled B. caught C. beaten D. hit
9.A. interested B. tired C. shocked D. bored
10.A. got on B. ran off C. looked at D. turned around
11.A. safe B. quiet C. warm D. lonely
12.A. onto B. off C. over D. beneath
13.A. building B. tree C. sky D. mountain
14.A. allow B. offer C. send D. advise
15.A. called B. thanked C. learned D. asked
16.A. imagined B. suggested C. practiced D. continued
17.A. got over B. turned over C. run over D. pushed over
18.A. chance B. job C. friend D. challenge
19.A. followed B. hurt C. directed D. pushed
20.A. answers B. remembers C. praises D. loves
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
语法填空
Don Ritchie was a famous Australian man. For nearly 50 years, he successfully stopped 160 people from killing 1. (they) at a cliff (悬崖), with just a kind word and a smile.
Don was a real gentleman, he purposely chose to live right across the street from the cliff, just because he wanted to save lives of 2. (stranger). He would wake up every morning and look out of the window for anyone 3. (stand) too close to the edge of the cliff. If he saw someone and thought they might jump, he would 4. (simple) walk over with a smile and say, “Is there something I could do to help you?” That sounds very simple, 5. it worked – Ritchie tried to have a talk with these people and ended up inviting them back to his house 6. tea or breakfast.
In a situation 7. most people would turn a blind eye, with such simple actions taken by Don, he saved 160 lives. He 8. (give) the Local Hero Award in Australia in 2011. Don passed away at the age of 85 in 2012. His story 9. (touch) the hearts of all Australians and challenged us to rethink 10. it means to be a good neighbor.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
单词拼写
1.The course is _________(设计) as an introduction to the subject.
2.Her parents died in the accident, but she _________(幸存).
3.He was too tired to _________(搬开) the big stone.
4.The ship ________(下沉) to the bottom of the river.
5.I hear that many people are _________(竞争) for that position.
6.My deskmate Wang Tao is so outstanding that we are sure he will be a________ into Peking University or Qinghua University.
7.The coat was half-price, a real __________(便宜货).
8.He is a responsible writer and he __________(应受) respecting.
9.They gave him several __________(信号), but he just took no notice.
10.I’m afraid that your explanation is not __________(符合逻辑) enough.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是李华。你的英国笔友David获悉你校正在进行主题为“Beat Plastic Pollution”的系列活动，来信向你咨询有关情况。请根据如下内容要点予以回复：
1.活动目的;
2.具体做法。
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难度: 困难查看答案及解析