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James Arruda Henry, a 98-year-old retired lobsterman, has written and published his first book, "In a Fisherman's Language", after learning to read at the incredible age of 91．
Mr. Henry spent most of his life without even his closest family members knowing he was illiterate (文盲）．Forced to quit school in the third grade to take some jobs, he kept the secret close to his chest - only telling to his late wife．
A family problem in his 90s sparked his encourage to restart his education．"He signed a document he could not read," Mr Henry's granddaughter said. And then, after hearing about George Dawson, a son of slaves who learned to read at the age of 98 and went on to write a book of his own, entitled "Life Is So Good" at the age of 101, Mr. Henry took up reading．
"If he can do it．I'm going to try," Mr. Henry said．Starting with his name, he eventually moved on to ABC’s and children's books. He put them down for four years after the tragic loss of his wife. But eventually he went back to reading and with the help of his tutor began to record his life．
He wrote about his family’s voyage from Portugal to the U.S. his many journeys at sea and how he was unable to save another fisherman who had fallen overboard. He became a carpenter and even a professional boxer - and eventually built his own home in Stonington Borough．
His life stories have become so popular, in fact, nearly 800 copies were sold in the first two weeks of the book's release last month．One thousand more have since been printed as requests for the book flood in from as far as Germany．And now even Hollywood producers have approached Mr. Henry about optioning the rights to his life story for a big screen adaptation．
1.Which of the following is true of Mr. Henry?
A．He couldn't read when he was retired．
B．He was not a good student at school．
C．Only his family members knew he was illiterate．
D．He published his book at the age of 91．
2.Mr. Henry made up his mind to study because he________．
A．had some trouble with his granddaughter
B．couldn't sign the document he was given
C．wanted to share his own experience with others
D．was inspired by George Dawson's story
3.In his book, Mr. Henry didn't mention ____．
A．his family story B．his school education
C．his journeys at sea D．his work experiences
4.What's the main idea of the last paragraph?
A．Nearly 800 copies of the book were sold．
B．The book was sold well in Germany．
C．His book was popular both at home and abroad．
D．Hollywood has planned to adapt his book for a movie．
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Rowena and Billy Wrangler are model high school students. They study hard and do extremely well on achievement tests. And next year，Rowena will be attending Harvard University．Billy，her younger brother，hopes to go to Cornell．What makes Rowena and Billy different from most students is that they don't go to school．In fact，they've never been to school．Since kindergarten，they've studied at home．Like many of more than one million people who receive home schooling in the United States, they feel as if they've gotten a good education．
The home-schooling trend began in the U.S．in the 1980s with parents keeping their children out of public schools so they could provide religious education at home. Today，as the home-schooling trend continues to grow，parents are more likely to consider home schooling as an option because they believe schools don't do a very good job of teaching and are occasionally dangerous places．But can parents really do a better job?
The answer in many cases is yes．In many studies，students taught at home ranked average or above average when compared to students who went to public schools．More importantly，these students were often more self-directed and have a greater depth of knowledge．They were well prepared for academic challenges．
One such student，Robert Conrad, now a sophomore at university, claims he really learned how to study and schedule his time during his eight years of home schooling．Still, not every student is as successful as Robert．
“For every home-schooling success story，there are an equal number of failures．”states Henry Lipscomb，an educational researcher．“There are just so many disadvantages that students taught at home have to overcome.” For example，they have fewer chances to get in touch with others of their own age．Consequently，they sometimes lack the usual social skills．“No matter what，though，”states Lipscomb，“home-schooling is a growing trend．I think we'll be seeing more and more of this．”
1.Compared with other students, Rowena and Billy are most different in the fact that ___________.
A．they preferred to teach themselves
B．they do extremely well on achievement tests
C．they don't go to school as other teenagers
D．they feel they have gotten a good education
2.According to the article, what is NOT the advantage of being educated at home?
A．Home is a safer place for children．
B．Students taught at home are more self-directed．
C．Students taught at home have a greater depth of knowledge．
D．Students taught at home can go to good universities．
3.The writer thinks __________ .
A．parents can do a better job than schools
B．home-schooling will be more and more useful
C．home-schooling is good in some aspects
D．students taught at home make greater achievements
4.The best title of this text might be ________ .
A．Home-schooling：A Growing Trend
B．Home-schooling：A Better Choice
C．Home-schooling：A Way to Success
D．Home-schooling：A New Method of Education
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy traffic．At present, we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is really worldwide．On several occasions over the past decade，a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in distant areas away from any industrial cities．In fact，the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution．Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels(coal and oil)is creating a “greenhouse effect”—— keeping heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature．If this view is correct and the world's temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York，Boston，Miami，and New Orleans will be in water．
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature—a result that would be equally disastrous．A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age，and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas．Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen．Perhaps，if we are lucky enough，the two tendencies will offset each other and the world's temperature will stay about the same as it is now．Driven by economic profits, people ignore the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”．Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development．But is it really worth-while?
1.People used to think that air pollution_________ .
A．caused widespread damage in the countryside
B．affected the entire eastern half of the United States
C．had a very bad effect on health
D．existed merely in urban and industrial areas
2.As to the greenhouse effect, the author_________.
A．shares the same view with the scientists．
B．is uncertain of its occurrence
C．rejects it as being ungrounded
D．thinks that it will destroy the world soon
3.The underlined word “offset” in the second paragraph could be replaced by_______.
A．counter-act B．break from C．get along D．communicate
4.This passage is primarily about________ .
A．the greenhouse effect
B．the burning of fossil fuels
C．the potential effect of air pollution
D．the possibility of a new ice age
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Two graduates from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom found themselves about to graduate, yet with loans to pay off. The pair decided to begin a strange, year-long project to battle their debt.
The men, Ross Harper and Ed Moyse, set up the site BuyMyFace.co.uk. last October as a way to get rid of the $80,000 they shared as student loans. The idea behind the project was to earn money by selling their faces as advertising space every day for a year. Each day, they advertise a different business on their site by painting the brand's logo or name on their faces and including a link to the company’s site. After they paint their faces and publish them on the site, Harper and Moyse go out to highly populated areas such as music festivals and theme parks to maximize their faces’ exposure.
At this time, Harper and Moyse have advertised their faces for over four months without skipping a day and they're more than halfway to their goal. Though they first started charging a minimum of about USD $1.60 per company, the prices have risen as their popularity increased. For advertising space during the remainder of April, they range between USD $250 and $750.
Terri L. Rittenburg, associate professor of marketing at the University of Wyoming, said she had heard of people tattooing (纹身) logos on themselves before, but this idea is much better. According to her, at first the idea would be new and novel and attract attention, but she is unsure how long it would last.
At least for now, companies that have bought Harper and Moyse’s faces have written positive comments on the pair’s website. “We had a three percent increase in website traffic on the very day and for two days more afterwards,” said an alcoholic beverage company.
1.Which of the following was most possibly taken from the website BuyMyFace.co.uk.?
A. B. C. D.
2. Harper and Moyse go to highly populated areas to _____.
A. have fun B. make friends C. show their faces D. find new customers
3.We can infer from the article that the two men _____.
A. must have earned more than $40,000
B. aren’t getting on well with their project
C. may close their site next month
D. always work hard except on holidays
难度: 中等查看答案及解析