阅读理解
“Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy – they’re given after all. Choices can be hard.” –– Jeff Bezos. I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I’d been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’t, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. MacKenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I’d been a garage inventor. I’d always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately (最后), I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.
After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I’m proud of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.
1.What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?
A. His dream of being an inventor.
B. The support of his wife.
C. The greatly increasing usage of the Internet.
D. Millions of exciting titles.
2.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?.
A. The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him.
B. He would be very excited if he tried it out.
C. He would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try.
D. The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him.
3.We can know from the passage that _______.
A. the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author
B. the author wanted someone else to try the idea
C. the author might not regret if he failed the idea
D. the author might go back to his boss if he failed
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Cleverness and Kindness B. The Starting of Amazon
C. Following My Passion D. We Are What We Choose
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
阅读理解
Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table, reading his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to copy him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the book just like you, but I don’t understand it, and I forget what I understand as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the book do?”
The grandpa quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandpa laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned. Out of breath, he told his grandpa that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, so he went to get a bucket instead. The grandpa said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.”
The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was empty again. Out of breath, he said, “Grandpa, it’s useless !” “So, you think it is useless?” the grandpa said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean. “Grandson, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you’ll be changed, inside and out.”
1. What puzzled the grandson most was ________.
A. whether it was useful to read books
B. why he forgot what he read soon
C. what kind of book he could understand
D. how he could read books like his grandpa
2.Why did Grandpa ask his grandson to fetch a basket of water?
A. To train him to run faster.
B. To clean the dirty basket in the river.
C. To punish him for not reading carefully.
D. To get him to realize the use of reading books.
3.What lesson can we learn from the story?
A. The old are always wiser than the young.
B. It is foolish to carry water with a basket.
C. Reading books can change a person gradually.
D. You can’t expect to remember whatever you read.
4.What can be the best title for the text?]
A. Grandpa and grandson
B. Carrying water in a basket
C. Reading for total changing
D. Baskets and books
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读理解
When I first told people I was going to work in Cameroon, the most common reaction was: “Why?” The second was: “It’s in Africa; you’ll die!” The third: “Where is that?” So let me give some answers. I was offered a job that looked interesting in a part of the world I’d never been to before. I’d also long had an interest in Africa, so I decided it was time to find out the reality.
A small amount of research showed that in more than 40 years since gaining independence, Cameroon has been a peaceful country with no wars. Not only are there no wars, but Cameroon is a food exporter to the region.
Now, after three years, I can say that these have been the healthiest years of my life! No malaria or any of the other frightening diseases you read about when Africa is mentioned. The worst thing that ever happened to me was a bout of food poisoning — once.
So what is it like to teach here? Well surprisingly not so different from teaching anywhere else.
Most students come to us with a bit of English in their heads. Cameroon is a bilingual country with French and English as official languages, while there are also close to 200 local ethnic languages in a country of 16 million people. French is the dominant language, spoken by about 80% of the population.
The local school system is very traditional and somewhat strict. Perhaps not surprisingly when there can be up to 150 students in the classroom (of which maybe 30 have the books, and there are probably seats for 70).
Like anywhere else, students appreciate it if you know a bit about their country, and not just Roger Milla (the top scorer of the 1990 World Cup, in case you’re wondering). It helps if you know the names of the ten provinces, know who the first president was, or can say a word in a local language.
So in conclusion: Cameroon isn’t just football. Not is it war, poverty and disease. It’s just life and people, like anywhere else.
1.On hearing the writer’s decision, most people _____.
A. didn’t understand him
B. considered it as a joke
C. admired him
D. laughed at him
2.According to the passage, Cameroon is _____.
A. a country full of diseases
B. peaceful after liberation
C. a poor country, especially lack of food
D. quite different from others in education
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Food export may lead to many frightening diseases
B. Most students in Cameroon do not need books
C. Cameroon is not as bad as people commonly believed
D. There must be a lot of people suffering from food poisoning.
4.What does the underlined word in the sixth paragraph mean?
A. leading B. easy C. only D. wonderful
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读理解
A scientist turns out to be able to see the future by offering each of some four-year-olds a piece of candy and watching how he or she deals with it. Some children reach eagerly for the treat they see. Some last a few minutes before they give in. But others are determined to wait until the last moment.
By the time the children reach high school, something remarkable has happened. A survey found that those who as four-year-olds had enough self-control to hold out generally grew up to be more popular, adventurous, confident and dependable. The children who gave in to temptation early on were more likely to be lonely, easily frustrated and inflexible .Actually, the ability to delay reward is a sign of emotional intelligence which doesn’t show up on an IQ test.
The hardware of the brain and the software of the mind have long been scientists’ concerns. But brain theory can’t explain what we wonder about most, like the question why some people remain upbeat in the face of troubles that would sink a less resistant soul.
Here comes the theory of Daniel Goleman, writer of Emotional Intelligence: when it comes to predicting people’s success, brain ability as measured by IQ may actually matter less than the qualities of mind once thought of as “character”.
EQ is not the opposite of IQ. What researchers have been trying to understand is how they work together; how one’s ability to handle stress, for instance, affects the ability to concentrate and put intelligence to use. Among the elements for success, researchers now generally agree that IQ counts for about 20%; the rest depends on everything from social class to luck.
While many researchers in this relatively new field are glad to see emotional issues finally taken seriously, some few fear EQ invites misuse.
1.The experiment with the four-year-olds makes it clear that______ .
A. the age of 4 is a proper time for scientific experiment
B. emotional intelligence won’t show up until adolescence
C. the ability of self-control plays a role in personal success
D. candy can be used to measure a person’s emotional intelligence
2.The underlined word “upbeat” in Paragraph 4 probably means______ .
A. kind B. floating C. excited D. cheerful
3.Why does the author mention the experiment at the beginning of the text?
A. To amuse both the children and readers.
B. To prove the scientist’s wisdom.
C. To introduce the topic of the text.
D. To show us how to do an IQ test.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。
What do you know about the standard of living of a country? It actually means how much of the goods and services the country produces for an average person to share. 1. Obviously, the first factor is its ability to produce wealth. “Wealth” in this sense doesn’t refer to money. It’s because we don’t live on money but on things that money can buy, “goods” such as food and clothing, and “services” such as transport and entertainment.
There are various factors that determine a country’s ability to produce wealth. They affect one another. Wealth depends greatly on a country’s natural resources. 2. . Some regions of the world are rich in natural resources with a fertile soil and a favorable climate; other regions possess perhaps only one of them; some, unfortunately, possess none. The USA has everything listed above. 3. The Sahara Desert, on the other hand, is one of the least wealthy.
Also, the ability to put natural resources to use counts, which goes without saying.
4. As we see, old countries that have trained so many skilled workers over centimes are better at producing wealth than those whose workers are mainly unskilled.
Besides, with their wealth increasing, people have more for saving and can put their savings into factories and machines, which, in turn, will help workers to produce more goods. 5.
A. That means wealth itself also produces wealth.
B. No wonder it is one of the wealthiest regions of the world.
C. Natural resources are equally distributed around the world.
D. And next comes the technical efficiency of a country’s people.
E. You may ask what factors contribute to a country’s standard of living
F. They include coal, oil, gas, gold, other minerals, water supply and so on.
G. But that doesn’t make it a most wealthy country because it’s often hit by disasters.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出可以填入空白的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
With the help of Gloria ,his wife ,Tom Peterson worked for many years to build a solid business selling television sets, stereo systems, and home appliances. Tom developed an excellent with their full satisfaction guarantee and friendly service. He was proud of his high percentage of repeat .
About five years ago, Tom was by the owners of a competing company, Stereo Super Stores. They wanted him to them out. The price was very attractive. Everything looked good. Before making his final Tom asked Gloria what she thought about the purchase. She told him that the numbers looked good it didn't feel to her. However, Tom was so self-confident and so convinced that this was a rare , he went ahead and made the . Within months he discovered that he had made a big .He had paid too much for a company. He tried as hard as he could to make it work out, but he couldn't turn things . He was forced into bankruptcy（破产）. He was about to lose everything, including his business.
Tom was embarrassed, but he is a survivor. He looked at his situation. He decided to admit his mistake and, rather than getting stuck in lawsuits(诉讼), he would focus his on saving and rebuilding his original business. He saw also that he had made a mistake by not listening to his , and that he needed to learn from this .He dealt with the crisis in a way that delighted people, who in turn respect for him. Old customers poured into his store. He and Gloria _to changes in retailing(零售) and have built an even better business than before.
In the business world, it is natural to gain and lose, of Peterson’s experience is an example. Only those who regard their mistakes as gifts and learn from them attract endless profits.
1.A．popularity B．reputation C．cause D．foundation
2.A．customers B．assistants C．friends D．visitors
3.A．appointed B．approved C．approached D．appreciated
4.A．sell B．pay C．buy D．check
5.A．decision B．choice C．determination D．judgement
6.A．as though B．now that C．even though D．in case
7.A．terrible B．fair C．right D．attractive
8.A．possibility B．occasion C．event D．opportunity
9.A．profit B．purchase C．reservation D．appointment
10.A．difference B．discovery C．commitment D．mistake
11.A．dying B．controversial C．clumsy D．tiring
12.A．in B．around C．down D．up
13.A．original B．various C．unique D．precious
14.A．quietly B．loudly C．openly D．secretly
15.A．beliefs B．spirits C．attempts D．energies
16.A．producer B．wife C．relative D．adviser
17.A．experience B．enterprise C．process D．history
18.A．won B．showed C．achieved D．earned
19.A．belonged B．adapted C．adopted D．appealed
20.A．them B．what C．that D．which
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
语法填空
阅读下列材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Many people think that teachers give pupils too much homework．They say that it is unnecessary 1. children to work at home in their free time．Moreover, they argue that most teachers do not 2. (proper) plan the homework tasks they give to pupils．The result is that pupils have to repeat tasks that they 3. (do) at school already．
In Greece，many parents complained about the difficult homework that teachers gave to their children．The parents said that most of the homework was 4. waste of time，and they wanted to stop it．Spain and Turkey are two countries 5. stopped homework．In Denmark，Germany and several other countries in Europe，teachers cannot set homework at weekends．In Holland，teachers allow pupils 6. (stay)at school to do their homework．The children are free to help one another．Similar arrangement also 7. (exist) in some British schools．
Most people agree that homework is not fair．A pupil doing his homework in a quiet and comfortable room is in a much 8. (good) position than a pupil who does his homework in a small，9. (noise) room with the television on．Some parents help their children with their homework．Other parents take no interest in 10. children’s homework at all．
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
短文中有10处语言错误。请在有错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
增加：在缺词处加一个符号（^），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意： 1. 每句不超过两个错误；
2. 每处错误及其修改均只限一词；
3. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
We senior school students do have some growing pains. Take some of my classmate for example，they often feel upset because the expectations from parents，endless homework and the pressure of exams. These serious affect their physical and mental wellbeing. Therefore，I think about it quite necessary to take measures to relieve the pains. First，it is a good idea to having hearttoheart talks with our parents，tell them we won’t disappoint them. Meanwhile，it’s advisable to spare some time to take some exercise beside our devotion to the studies so that we will always feel relaxing and energetic. As long as we were fully prepared，we are sure to achieve great success in my academic performance.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
张楠的父亲有位美国同事，他的孩子约翰史密斯即将来华。约翰写信向张楠询问一些有关他所在城市的问题。张楠回信，内容如下：
得知约翰要来非常高兴。告诉他可能遇到一些不同于美国的情况。气候：冬天冷，有时下雪。夏天几乎不下雨，但一下起来就很大。提醒约翰带雨衣、棉衣。饮食：饮食与美国很不同，他应尽力适应中国饮食，并要学会如何使用筷子。最后，请他带一张美国地图，希望早日能见面。
注意：不要直接翻译要点，可适当增加细节；词数：100—120字
难度: 中等查看答案及解析