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People have been burying the dead at Salem’s Hope Cemetery since 1833. The place is filled with old gravestones and gothic mausoleums(哥特式陵墓), the spirits of the dead hanging over the land like an early morning fog.
Keeping watch, a few steps from the road with her skirt over the pedestal (基座), is Goldie Belle Taylor, her face weathered but otherwise in good condition. On this day, she is holding a bunch of pink rises because Goldie Belle always holds flowers. Someone makes sure of that.
“And she has had fresh flowers in her hands for the last 150 years.” Karen Biery lives in Damascus, about five miles west of Hope Cemetery. She’s written a book based on the legend of Goldie Belle Taylor titled Believe. In 1886, at the age of two, young Goldie Belle used her hands to sop up (抹去) the left over elderberry juice from her father’s iron kettle. She died not long after from poisoning. She was the love of her dad’s life, and he was so upset that he sold the family farm to buy the Italian made statue, which today marks her grave.
At first, it was her father who brought the flowers and laid them in her hands. When he died in 1896, the flowers kept coming. Her flowers are different per season. Why do the flowers keep miraculously appearing? People have tried to find out by having camped by the statue, but not even the groundskeepers have been able to catch the criminal.
It’s said that a fairy arrives at Hope Cemetery looking for the grave of her birth mother. She comes across Goldie Belle’s statue.
1.The underlined word “that” in paragraph 2 probably refers to________.
A．her face in good condition
B．her bunch of pink roses
C．Goldie Belle Taylor is holding pink roses
D．Goldie Belle Taylor always holds flowers
2.It can be inferred from the third paragraph __________.
A．her father was poisonous B．the iron kettle was poisonous
C．elderberry juice was poisonous D．it was her father that hated her
3.After her father died, the flowers in the hands of Goldie Belle Taylor_______.
A．usually change B．were stolen
C．are no longer fresh D．come from a criminal
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A．A fairy brings the flowers. B．The mystery of Goldie’s flowers.
C．What happens to the girl? D．How do the flowers get there?
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible．Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel．It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter altogether.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too．It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving．On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting．A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and calm so necessary in modern traffic condition．But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough．Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous．Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may be not able to stop in time．The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to．It always amazes me that the highways are not covered with the dead bodies of these grannies (奶奶).
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings．Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive．Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users．It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.
1.According to the passage, troubles on the road are often caused by ________.
A．road conditions B．the speed of modern life
C．the large number of cars D．the behavior of the drivers
2.In the writer’s opinion, ________.
A．drivers should show road politeness properly.
B．strict traffic rules are badly needed
C．unskillful drivers should be punished
D． drivers should avoid traffic jams
3.The underlined word “give-and-take” in the passage means ________.
A．politeness and impoliteness
B．willingness to give in to each other’s wishes
C．offering help to others as much as possible
D．good manners and bad manners
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A．Road Politeness
B．Traffic Problems
C Bad Manners on the Road
D．Good Drivers and Bad Driver
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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The long, lonely voyage of the Japanese ghost ship is over．
A US Coast Guard cutter poured cannon fire into an abandoned Japanese ghost ship that had been drifting since last year’s tsunami, sinking the vessel into waters more than 305 meters deep in the Gulf of Alaska and removing the danger it posed to shipping and the coastline on Thursday．
The cutter’s guns tore holes in the 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru, and then it began to take on water and lean to one side． In about four hours, the ship disappeared into the sea, said Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow．
The ship had no lights or communications system, and its tank was able to carry more than 7,570 liters of diesel fuel． Officials, however, didn’t know exactly how much fuel was aboard．
“It’s less risky than it would be running into shore or running into other ships,” coast guard spokesman Paul Webb said．
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency studied the problem and decided it is safer to sink the ship than let the fuel evaporate and pollute the sea environment．
Ryou-Un Maru was probably among the first wave of the 1．5 million tons of garbage of refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, roofs and fishing nets heading toward North America since last March when a magnitude-9．0 earthquake struck Japan．
As the coast guard was ready to fire on the vessel, a Canadian fishing vessel, the 19-meter Bernice C, claimed the rights to save the ghost ship in international waters．
Plans to sink it were paused so the Canadian crew could have a chance to take the stricken ship． A Canadian official with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press that the Bernice C was unable to drag it．
Then the Canadian boat left, and once it was about 10 kilometers from the Japanese vessel, the Coast Guard began to fire, first with 25 mm shells, then a few hours later with ammunition twice that size．
State officials have been working to test the danger of garbage including materials affected by a damaged nuclear power plant, to see if Alaska residents, seafood or wild animals could be affected．
1.Which of the following is NOT the reason for sinking the Japanese ship?
A．It had no lights or communications system.
B．It might be washed up onto the shore．
C．It was a danger to other passing ships．
D．The oil it carried could pollute the sea．
2.The plan to fire on the Japanese ghost ship was paused because ____________．
A．the ghost ship was beyond the reach of the Coast Guard’s guns
B．the shells were not powerful enough to sink the ghost ship
C．state officials worried the ghost ship might give out radiation
D．a Canadian fishing boat wanted to save the ghost ship
3.Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?
A．Japanese ghost ship arriving at US
B．Tsunami garbage heading to US
C．Cannon fire sinking Japanese ghost ship
D．Japanese ghost ship polluting the Pacific
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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It’s good to make mistakes, and here is why．
First of all, mistakes are a clear sign that you are trying new things． It’s always good to try new things because when you are trying new things you are growing． If you never try anything new, how can you improve? How can you expand? The simple answer is “You can’t”． Look around you． With very few exceptions, either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new．
Another good thing about mistakes is this: When you are making mistakes, you are learning． Consider this: Edison failed 10,000 times before he perfected the light bulb． When asked how it felt to fail that many times, he said that he hadn’t failed 10,000 times, but rather had learned 10,000 things that didn’t work．
Finally, when you make a mistake you are much closer to success． Why?
Because when all is said and done, you will have tried some number of things before you succeeded． Every time you make a mistake you eliminate one of those things and are one step closer．
But this all doesn’t mean that you should go ahead without considering the consequences of a mistake． Quite the contrary, when you try something new you have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that in the event that it doesn’t work out the way you want it to, you will be in a position to try again．
We all have limited resources in the form of time and money so don’t blow them all on one approach to a problem． Realize that it probably won’t be perfect the first time and allocate （分配） these resources appropriately so you can learn, make corrections, and try it again． Only by accepting and using your mistakes in this way can you make significant advances in your business and your career．
There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough．”
So go forth and make mistakes． And learn． And grow． And prosper（成功）．
1.From the second paragraph, we can conclude that _______．
A．mistakes are unnecessary for development
B．we are afraid of trying new things
C．it’s common for people to make mistakes
D．mistakes are better than not trying
2.The underlined word “eliminate” means _______．
A．avoid B．remove C．accept D．solve
3.According to the article, one thing you should pay attention to about making mistakes is________．
A．avoiding making the same mistakes
B．accepting the punishment willingly
C．taking consequences into account
D．trying things out one by one
4.What would the writer probably suggest we say to ourselves when we make a mistake?
A．Never mind, I can always try again．
B．I’d better stay out of trouble．
C．Ok! Now I can learn something．
D．Look at this mess． Anyone would be upset．
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
），并在其下面写出该加的词。
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