-
In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I’d hitch a ride (搭便车).
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn’t give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch
. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured (使……放心)me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favor I’d been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven’t changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.”
I couldn’t remember where I’d met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.
1.The author(作者) had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because __________ .
A．the town was far away from Sydney
B．she missed the only train back home
C．she was going home for her holidays
D．her work delayed her trip to Sydney
2.Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?
A．He bought sandwiches for the girl .
B．He gave the girl a ride back home.
C．He helped the girl find a ride.
D．He watched the girl for three hours.
3.The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that __________.
A．she realized he was Gordon
B．she had known him for decades
C．she was going to the nearby town
D．she wanted to pay back the help she once got
4.What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?
A．Sometimes giving produces nice results.
B．Those who give rides will be repaid.
C．Good manners bring about happiness.
D．Peop
le should offer free rides to others.
-
Nelson Mandela was a figure of international fame, and many details of his life and career were public knowledge. But here are four things you may not have known about the late South African leader.
1. He was a boxing fan.
In his youth, Nelson Mandela enjoyed boxing and long-distance running. Even during the 27 years he spent in prison, he would exercise every morning. "I did not enjoy the violence of boxing so much as the science of it. I was curious by how one moved one's body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat, how one paced oneself over a match," he wrote in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.
2. His original name was not Nelson.
Rolihlahla Mandela was nine years old when a teacher at the primary Methodist school where he was studying in Qunu, South Africa, gave him an English name “Nelson” in accordance with the custom to give all school children Christian names.
3. He forgot his glasses when he was released from prison.
Mr. Mandela's release on 11 February 1990 followed years of political pressure against apartheid(种族隔离). Mr. Mandela's reading glasses stayed behind in prison. Mr. Mandela and his then-wife Winnie were taken to the centre of Cape Town to address a huge and exciting crowd. But when he pulled out the text of his speech, he realized he had forgotten his glasses and had to borrow Winnie's.
4. He had his own law firm, but it took him years to get a law degree.
Mr. Mandela studied law on and off for 50 years from 1939, failing about half the courses he took. A two-year diploma(学位证书) in law on top of his university degree allowed him to practice, and in August 1952, he and Oliver Tambo set up South Africa's first black law firm, Mandela and Tambo, in Johannesburg. He kept on studying hard to finally secure a law degree while in prison in 1989.
1.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Nelson Mandela’s life in the prison.
B. Unknown things about Nelson Mandela.
C. Nelson Mandela’s hobbies and career.
D. The achievements of Nelson Mandela.
2.Why did Nelson Mandela love boxing?
A. Because he wanted to be a boxer.
B. Because he loved the science in boxing.
C. Because he enjoyed the violence of boxing.
D. Because he had nothing else to do in the prison.
3.What happened to Mandela when he was about to give the speech?
A. He broke his glasses into pieces.
B. He left his own glasses at home.
C. He had to use his wife’s glasses.
D. His wife wanted to borrow his glasses.
4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Nelson Mandela was not his original name.
B. Nelson Mandela was the name given by his teacher.
C. Nelson Mandela had started his own law firm before he got a law degree.
D. Nelson Mandela had been studying the law nonstop for 50 years.
-
If you want to see climate change, head north and keep going until you run out of globe. That is easier said than done. The Arctic (北极) is home to few people and covered in ice much of the year. But those who make their way to the icy seas of the Arctic Ocean will see a part of the planet that is warming and changing faster than anywhere else.
In September, scientists announced at the National Snow and Ice Data (数据) Center that Arctic summer sea ice had fallen to its second lowest level since 1979, and probably long before that. The Arctic has lost an area of ice greater than the area of all U.S. states east of the Mississippi River. And what ice remains appears to be getting thinner and weaker.
Nick Toberg and Till Wagner are polar ice scientists who are doing sea ice fieldwork. “There is plenty of data to suggest that the ice is becoming thinner as well as smaller in area,” they say.
The changes happening in the Arctic are a warning for the entire world . As polar expert Walt
Meier puts it, “What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.”
Some scientists worry that Arctic sea ice may be going from a downward spiral (螺旋线) to a “death spiral”, one from which there is no escape. As more ice melts (融化), more dark open water appears. The darkness absorbs (吸收) more heat, which speeds up the pace of melting.
Until recently, many scientists thought it might take until the end of the century for the North Pole to become completely ice free during the summer. Now some believe it could happen by 2030 or even earlier. “The melting is happening faster in the real world than it has in the models,” says Nick Toberg.
1.The purpose of the first paragraph is to tell readers __________.
A. it’s difficult to arrive at the Arctic
B. it is too cold for people to live in the Arctic
C. what caused the climate change in the Arctic
D. we can see the most obvious climate change in the Arctic
2.From the second paragraph we can learn Arctic summer sea ice __________.
A. is still decreasing
B. began reducing in 1979
C. fell to its lowest level in September
D. is equal to the Mississippi River
3.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. The changes don’t affect the Arctic at all.
B. The changes will only happen in the Arctic.
C. The changes happening in the Arctic will stop.
D. The changes will also affect other parts of the world.
4.Nick Toberg may agree that __________.
A. the ice in the North Pole will stop melting
B. the ice in the North Pole is melting faster than expected
C. the ice in the North Pole will melt before 2030 or even earlier
D. the ice in the North Pole will not disappear until the end of the century
-
Lately, Bolivia has outlawed (宣布……为非法) the use of animals in circus (马戏团) performances, and officials in the South American nation aren’t doing it in a silly way! They say all Bolivian circuses must stop using animals.
Some people welcome the law. They say animals should not be forced to work and that circus creatures are caged in tight spaces when they travel. However, other people say that many of the four legged performers are cared for by animal experts. Plus, they point out, circus animals entertain millions of fans.
Should animals perform in circuses? Student reporters Michael and Emily have done some work on the issue.
Yes, I think animals should be allowed in circus acts. Most circus trainers love and respect the animals they work with and treat them well. Certain rules and regulations also help to ensure that the animals are treated humanely, or with kindness. Millions of people love circus animals. They look forward to seeing elephants and tigers perform. Many of the animals are exotic (奇特的), so people might not get the chance to see them anywhere else. “Circus animals shouldn’t be banned,” says Parker, a sixth grader from Oregon City, “One of the main reasons people go to the circus is to see animals they don’t see every day and to see them do cool tricks.”
Animals should not perform in circuses. When animals are in circuses, they are for
ced to learn new behaviors in order to entertain humans. Those behaviors may go against their natural instincts (本性). For example, bears hibernate in the winter, but bears in a circus have to perform and can’t hibernate as their bodies tell them to. Also, circus animals have to travel all the time in cages. All that traveling may cause them to become confused or upset because their environment keeps changing. “When animals are removed from their habitat and held in cages ... it changes their behaviors,” points out Anne Northam, a teacher from Friendswood, Texas. “They are no longer selfsufficient (自给自足的).”
1.Which of the following can be a reason why people support the law?
A. Animals in circuses are given more respect and care.
B. Animals in circuses bring a lot of fun for people.
C. Animals in circuses can’t live their life naturally.
D. Animals in circuses are protected by many regulations.
2.What’s Anne’s attitude towards the new law?
A. She welcomes it.
B. She is against it.
C. She thinks it acceptable.
D. She thinks it useless.
3.Which would be the best title for the text?
A. Enjoy more fun in circuses
B. More respect and kindness to animals
C. Circuses in Bolivia Open or Closed
D. Animals belong in circuses Yes or No
4.The underlined word “hibernate” in the last paragraph probably means __________.
A. sleep B. look for food C. move from one place to another D. perform
-
As computers become all the more popular in China, Chinese people are increasingly depending on computer keyboards to input Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes（笔画） of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.
Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a computer as early as primary school. And computer dependence is more wide-spread among university students. Almost all their homework and essays are typed on a computer.
All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer.
It's faster and easier to correct if using a computer. And that's why computers are being applied more and more often to modern education. But when people are taking stock in computers increasingly, problems appear.
"When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can't remember how to write a character, though I feel I’m familiar with it."
"I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper."
Many students don't feel this is something to worry about. Now that it's more convenient and quick to write on a computer, why bother to handwrite?
Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei , the headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital said "Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic(审美的) value. But those characters typed with computer keyboards only have their practical value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. And handwriting contains the writer's emotion(情绪). Through one's handwriting, people can get to know one's thinking and personality. Beautiful writing will give people a better first impression of them.”
To encourage students to handwrite more, many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory(必修的)and in universities, some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand.
1.The students interviewed prefer to write using a computer mainly because______.
A. they are usually asked to e-mail their homework and essays
B. they can correct the mistakes they make quickly and conveniently
C. they find it not easy to remember how to write a character
D. computers have become popular in China.
2.Which of the following statements of the advantages of handwriting is NOT TRUE ?
A. Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic value.
B. The writer’s thinking and personality are shown in his or her handwriting.
C. Handwriting contains the writer's emotion.
D. Handwriting can impress people well and build up one’s self-confidence.
3.The underlined expression “taking stock in”(Paragraph 4) probably means __________.
A. getting bored with B. getting curious about
C. getting dependent on D. becoming crazy about
4.We can infer from the passage that ___
_______.
A. more and more students will pay attention to handwriting
B. more and more students will give up writing on a computer
C. writing by hand will give way to typing by computer one day
D. the typed article better expresses one’s emotion and quality
Believe it or not, there are a number of words in the English language which were French in __________.
se D. Once again
. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured (使……放心)me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, 
le should offer free rides to others.
ced to learn new behaviors in order to entertain humans. Those behaviors may go against their natural instincts (本性). For example, bears