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Air is an odorless (无气味的), invisible (看不见的) gas that surrounds the earth. It is everywhere on the planet. An “empty” drinking glass and an “empty” room, to give two examples, are not really empty. Each is filled with air. When the glass is filled with water, the water pushes the air out of the glass.
Air, as a gas, has no definite (明确的) shape, but, because it is matter, it takes up space. It is easy to prove that air is something that takes up space. Stuff a dry handkerchief into the bottom（底部） of a glass so that it will not fall out when the glass is turned upside-down. Push the upside-down glass; hold it straight into a jar of water till the glass is completely covered. When the glass is taken out of water, the handkerchief will be dry. The air inside the glass takes up space and keeps the water from coming in.
1.What does the underlined word “Stuff” (in Paragraph 2) mean?
A．Press tightly. B．Take out.
C．Put down. D．Turn fully.
2.The writer tells us that _______.
A．the experiment is done in the laboratory
B．the experiment is done outside the room
C．the experiment is easily done
D．the experiment is carried out indoors
3.Which of the following pictures gives us the correct result?
( W—water; A—air; H—handkerchief )
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Hobbs was an orphan（孤儿）. He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work made him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.
One day a lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money.” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures. I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place in the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other.”
“Here is the reading of your uncle’s will（遗嘱）,” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it.”
“Yes, I see. I’ll do that,” said the young man.
1.Hobbs wanted to borrow money to _______.
A．study abroad B．work abroad
C．pay off the debts D．learn to paint pictures
2.What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” （in Paragraph 2） probably mean?
A．Surprised. B．Frightened.
C．Satisfied. D．Excited.
3.With the money he got, at first Hobbs _______.
A．planned to have a happy life for a few days
B．decided to give up his work in the factory
C．was to give a dinner to his friends
D．had no idea what to do
4.Hobbs was asked to _______.
A．tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it
B．read his uncle’s will
C．tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money
D．buy some pictures
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. In spite of this, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his penname.
Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother’s care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors. He didn’t like to go to school, and he often ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi(密西西比河). He was nearly drowned nine times.
After his father’s death, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a printer, a river-boat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full time writer.
In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him great fortune.
Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments(投资) and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died, and then three of his children passed away.
At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910.
1.In his childhood, Mark Twain, ________.
A．learned a lot at school
B．he often went swimming with other boys
C．his mother often worried about his safety
D．he often played games with other boys
2.Which of the following shows the right order about Mark Twain?
a. He became a miner. b. He worked as a printer.
c. He got into debts. d. His father died.
e. He became a full-time writer. f. He joined the army.
A．a—d—b—c—e—f B．d—b—f—a—e—c
C．d—a—f—e—b—c D．c—b—d—f—e—a
3.In order to make a living, Mark Twain _______.
A．first worked as a printer
B．did many kinds of work
C．wrote stories in the beginning
D．joined the army after he worked in a mine
4.Before his death, Mark Twain _______.
A．became a white man B．was in low spirits
C．liked to buy all kinds of clothes D．had nothing on
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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When you practice reading with passages shorter than book length, do not try to take in each word separately, one after the other. It is much more difficult to grasp the broad theme of the passage this way, and you will also get the stuck on individual words which may not be absolutely essential to a general understanding of the passage. It is a good idea to skim through the passage very quickly first to get the general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized word can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the passage. It is surprising how many people do not read titles, introductions or paragraph headings. Can you, without looking back, remember the title of this passage and the heading of this paragraph?
Most paragraphs of a passage or chapter have a 'topic sentence' which expresses the central idea. The remaining sentence expand or support that idea. It has been estimated that between 60% and 90% of all expositive（说明的）paragraphs in English have the topic sentence first. Always pay special attention to the first sentence of a paragraph; it is most likely to give you the main idea.
Sometimes , though , the first sentence in the paragraph does not have the feel of 'main idea' sentence. It does not seem to give us enough new information to justify a paragraph. The next most likely place to look for the topic sentence is the last sentence of the paragraph.
Remember that the opening and closing paragraphs of a passage or chapter are particularly important . The opening paragraph suggests the general direction and content of the piece, while the closing paragraph often summarizes the very essence （精髓）.
1.It is a good idea to skim through a passage quickly first ________.
A．at about 350 w. P.m.(words per minute)
B．to get the general idea of each paragraph
C．so that you can take in each word separately
D．to make sure you get to the end at least once
2.The topic sentence of an expository paragraph in English_______.
A．usually comes in the middle
B．is most likely to be found at the end
C．is most often at the beginning
D．is usually left out in expository writing
3.Most expository paragraphs in English have a clearly defined topic sentence. In such paragraphs the topic sentence comes first ________.
A．in about 40% of cases B．in about 80% of cases
C．in about 20% cases D．very rarely
4.Some times we know the first sentence is not the topic sentence because ________.
A．it does not seem to give us enough new information
B．it is not long enough
C．it does not come at the beginning
D．it does not make complete sentence
难度: 中等查看答案及解析