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When I was ten my dad helped me buy my first ten-speed bicycle from Allen．I put up $60 of my grass cutting and snow shoveling （铲） money and my dad put up the other half I would pay him back over the next six months．Although it was not in the latest style, it was my ticket to the adult world．
I spent that summer and autumn riding happily．My sister Liz, a prisoner（囚犯，俘虏） of her five-speed bicycle, never had a chance to keep up．Just before the Christmas deadline to pay my dad back, we were hit with several snowstorms．This allowed me to shovel enough driveways （车道） to pay off my debt．I was now officially a bike owner; it was a feeling unlike any other．
On that Christmas morning, my dad gave me a used portable （便携式的） record player．I was excited．However, my joy was short-lived after my dad called my sister to the kitchen．“We have one more gift for you．” he said as he opened the door that led to the garage．There, on the steps, stood a new ten-speed bicycle．
“It’s not fair,” I complained．“I worked so hard for my bike．and it’s not even new．Then Liz gets a new bike．She didn’t have to do anything for it．” My dad smiled．“She didn’t have to do anything for it because it’s not really for her,” he said．What did that mean? I didn’t want her bike．
By spring Liz and I were riding all over town together now that she could keep up．As we grew, Liz and I became true friends．
Still I wasn’t smart enough to figure out what my dad meant until years later．That new bike was not a gift for Liz — it was a gift for me．He’d given me the gift of my sister’s company, the ability to stay together rather than drift apart （逐渐疏远） in the face of my ability to travel．He gave me my best friend．
1.What do we know about the author’s bike?
A．It was worth $120．
B．Allen bought it for him．
C．It was very fashionable．
D．He didn’t like it actually．
2.Why did the author think he was officially a bike owner?
A．He had paid off his debt．
B．He had learned to ride a bike．
C．He could also own Liz’s bike．
D．He could sell his bike to Liz．
3.Why was the author’s Christmas joy short-lived?
A．His sister got a new record player．
B．His father didn’t care about him．
C．The record player wasn’t new．
D．His sister got a better gift．
4.Hearing his father say “it’s not really for her （Paragraph 4）”, the author probably felt ________．
A．moved B．satisfied
C．puzzled D．disappointed
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Too many people want others to be their friends, but they don’t give friendship back. That is why some friendships do not last very long. To have a friend, you must learn to be one. You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules. Be honest; be generous; be understanding.
Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you do not tell the truth, people usually find out. If a friend finds out that you haven’t been honest you may lose your friends’ trust. Good friends always count on one another to speak and act honestly.
Generosity means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow. You do not have to give your lunch money on your clothes of course. Instead you have to learn how to share things you enjoy, like your hobbies and your interest. Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings. These can be very valuable to a friend．They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them you help your friend know you better.
Sooner or later every one needs understanding and help with a problem. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be a first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand．You must try to put yourself in your friend’s place so you can understand the problem better.
No two friendships are ever exactly alike. But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends, you must practise honesty, generosity, and understanding.
1.Some friendships don’t last very long because ____.
A．there are too many people who want to make friends.
B．those who never give others friendships receive no friendship from others.
C．those who give others friendship receive friendship from others.
D．they don’t know friendship is something serious.
2.According to the passage honesty is _____.
A．something good
B．the base of friendship
C．as important as money
D．more important than anything else
3.The underlined word “generosity” means _____.
A．慷慨 B．节约 C．吝啬 D．和气
4.Which of the following isn’t mentioned （提及）in the passage?
A．Always tell your friend the truth.
B．Sharing your mind with your friend is of great value.
C．Discussing your problems with your friend often helps to solve the problem.
D．A friend who gives you his lunch money is a true friend．
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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London—Sheep, like turkeys and ostriches, are not considered the most clever animals. British scientists said last Wednesday humans may have underestimated the woolly creature. They could be much smarter than we think.
Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, southern England, have shown that the animals have a good memory system and are extremely good at recognizing faces—which they think is a sure sign of intelligence.
Behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick and his friends trained 20 sheep to recognize and distinguish 25 pairs of sheep faces and used electrodes （电极） to measure their brain activity , which showed they could remember 50 faces for up to two years .
“If they can do that with faces, they have to have reasonable intelligence; otherwise, what is the point of having a system for remembering faces and not remembering anything else?” Kendrick said in an interview.
So hours of seemingly mindless eating grass may not be so mindless after all.
Kendrick believes sheep got their reputation as dumb （unable to speak, unintelligent） animals because they live in large groups and do not appear to have much individuality and are frightened of just about everything.
“All animals, including humans, once they are frightened, don’t tend to show signs of intelligent action,” he explained.
In research reported in the science journal Nature, Kendrick and his team showed that sheep, like humans, have a specialized system in the brain which allows them to distinguish between many different faces which look extremely similar.
“The most important finding （of the study） is that they are able , both from a behavioral point of view and from looking at the way the brain is organized , to remember a large number of individuals for a very long time,” said Kendrick. “It is a very strange system. They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans.”
1.From the first paragraph we can find that______. .
A．people used to think sheep are smarter than the other animals
B．people used to raise sheep in a wrong way
C．people don’t consider sheep as clever animals
D．people have done a lot of research on sheep
2.From what Kendrick said in the interview we learn that_____. .
A．scientists have learned everything about sheep’s intelligence
B．scientists have learned a little about sheep’s intelligence
C．scientists can’t do anything more about sheep’s memory
D．scientists do not have to research animals’ memory
3.As is known in the passage,__________.
A．sheep are among the week animals
B．it is not right for people to raise sheep in groups
C．when sheep eat grass in the field their minds may be active
D．if people feel frightened, they may become braver
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Fear and its companion pain are two of the most useful things that men and animals possess, if they are properly used. If fire did not hurt when it burnt, children would play with it until their hands were burnt away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear didn’t, a child would burn himself or herself again and again, because fear would not warn himself or herself to keep away from the fire that had burnt himself or herself before. A really fearless soldier—and some do exist, is not a good soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army. Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which men and animals might soon die out.
In our first sentence we suggested that fear should be properly used. If, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much. Even in your house you are not absolutely safe: an aeroplane may crash on your house, or ants may eat away some of the beams in your roof so that the latter falls on you, or you may get cancer!
The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead to use fear as your servant and guide. Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take.
In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger. For example, you see a car coming straight towards you. Fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well.
In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you can’t prevent an aeroplane crashing onto your house. In this case, fear has given you its warning; you have examined it and decided on your course of action, so fear of this particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it.
1.Children would play with fire until their hands were burnt away if _________.
A．they were given no warning beforehand
B．they had never burnt themselves
C．they had no sense of pain
D．they were fearful of the fire
2.A really fearless soldier _____________.
A．is of great use to the army
B．is not a real soldier
C．is nothing but a dead soldier
D．easily gets killed in a battle
3.People sometimes succeed in timely avoiding the danger because _________.
A．they have gained experience
B．they jump out of the way in time
C．they are calm in the face of danger
D．they are warned of the danger by fear and take quick action
4.What's the writer's suggestion when the danger can't be avoided?
A．You have to try to overcome it．
B．Fear can really help you to run away.
C．Fear always helps you stay safe．
D．Fear is of great use to you.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析