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Helen Keller
For the first nineteen months of her life, Helen Keller was like other pretty happy babies. Then a sudden illness destroyed her sight and hearing. Because she could not hear what other people were saying, the child could not learn to speak. For the next seven years, she lived in a world of darkness, without sounds or words.
The person who changed Helen’s world was her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who entered her life on March 3, 1887. Miss Sullivan had accepted a job, which seemed impossible. She agreed to teach a blind child who had never leaned to act like a human being, because no one had over been able to guide her in any way. No one could control Helen. She acted like a young animal, rushing widely around, throwing things, and hitting anyone whom she could reach. Who could believe that such a child could be taught?
But Anne Sullivan was a very special kind of teacher. She had been blind during part of her own childhood and had learned to read Braille, a system of writing that uses raised dots which can be felt by the fingers of a blind person. She had learned to see again after seven operations, but she had never forgotten the experience of being blind.
Miss Sullivan understood Helen. She loved her and believed she could teach her.
1.Helen Keller was born ________ .
A. blind and deaf B. natural C. very weak D. very pretty and happy
2.Before Miss Sullivan came, Helen was ________ .
A. very wild B. very sad C. well mannered D. like a school girl
3.Braille is ________ .
A. the language of Belgium B. the language used by deaf people
C. the language for the blind D. a kind of sign language
4.Anne Sullivan was the person who ________ .
A. changed Helen’s life B. operated on Helen
C. made Helen feel happy D. accepted a job as Helen’s playmate
5.Anne became a good teacher because ________ .
A. she was very patient B. she was very kind
C. she knew how to read Braille D. she knew and shared Helen’s suffering
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets（慧星） which other scientist had made. The orbit（轨道） of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems.
However, Halley had a friend named Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the same shape of an ellipse.（椭圆）
Now Halley set to work. He figured out the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearances had been 75 or 76 years apart.
This seemed very strange to Halley. Three different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets, as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.
It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain enough to make a prediction of what would happen in the future. He decided that this comet would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested.
In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet has been named Halley’s Comet, in his honour.
1.Edmund Halley figured out the orbit of ________.
A. some different comets appearing several times
B. the same comet appearing at different times
C. three different comets appearing three times
D. several comets appearing at the same time
2.Halley made his discovery ________.
A. by doing experiment
B. by means of his own careful observation
C. by using the work of other scientists
D. by chance
3.Halley made a surprising, but correct prediction in the year ________.
A. 1704 B. 1705 C. 1706 D. 1707
4.This passage in general is about ________.
A. Halley and other scientists B. the orbit of a comet
C. Newton and Halley D. Halley and his discovery
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Turning on the TV, a wonderful scene comes to your eyes—a group of men, tall, strong and handsome, and women, young, beautiful and attractive, too. Together they eat in the finest restaurants, traveling everywhere around the world by luxurious planes and pleasure ships. They are models.
Do you envy them? What sort of life are models leading? Is it a wonderful life for a young lady or a young man?
A few models are well-known actors or actresses who can make a lot of money only by showing themselves off in commercials. But the majority of them are just curious to see what it is like. They’d like to be models just because they are attracted by what they imagine—models earn a lot of money and lead a glorious life. This is true for those who are very successful. However, most models find it difficult to get work. Very few can earn enough to live on, and for all models their expenses are high. Their agents claim about 20% of the earnings, and no model will get very far without a clever agent. Besides, they have to buy good clothing. They also have to pay to travel to interviews and reach the places where the work is to be done.
Interviews for a model job are known as cattle-markets in the modeling world, and not without a good reason. A top model can choose his or her work, demand and receive high fees and has his or her expenses paid. But for most models, the situation is quite different. And agent or employer inspects each model much as a farmer inspects cattle at a market. Intelligence, qualifications and personal characteristics count for little against good looks and tight figures. For all except the very few lucky ones, the life of a model is a continual search for work, trying to sell himself or herself in the face of fierce competition and, sometimes, not particularly moral standards on the part of some employers.
Immigration officials at airport look suspiciously at a girl whose passport shows her occupation as “Model”, and these are men and women of considerable experience of the world. It comes no surprise to find that some models prefer to put “Secretary” or “Businessman” as their jobs in their passports.
Modeling is a changeable world with great rewards for a tiny minority but not for the majority.
1.For models, their good looks and tight figures are ____, compared with their intelligence and qualifications.
A. more important B. less needed C. less essential D. more looked down upon
2.Which of the following can lead you to believe according to the passage?
A. A model’s traveling expenses are usually paid by his employer.
B. To be a model, good looks are the most important qualification.
C. Most models have a fairly easy way of life with high pay.
D. A model can hardly be successful without a good agent.
3.Models often put “Secretary” or “Businessman” instead of “Model” in their passports because ____.
A. they want to avoid being stopped to sign their names by fans
B. a person with the occupation of a model is easily attacked by black societies
C. models are sometimes looked down upon
D. secretaries and businessmen are free of custom duty
4.What may be the author’s attitude towards modeling?
A. It is a worthwhile life for a young lady or a young man.
B. He is in favour of young people to try modeling.
C. Before being crazy about a model job, young people should be aware of the difficulties.
D. It is a field in which everyone has a great chance to succeed.
5.The underlined word “suspiciously” can most probably be replaced by ____.
A. doubtfully B. excitedly C. proudly D. sadly
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Most of us use the telephone several times a day to talk with friends or make social arrangements. These calls are usually quite easy and require little planning.
Using the telephone for business purpose is different. In any organization the person on the telephone represents the company and gives an impression of the firm to the outside world.
If you want to ensure good public relations, you need to master effective telephone techniques.
You should try to give an impression of an efficient, friendly, progressive company eager to give good service.
Before calling
Choose the right time. Consider the cost, urgency and convenience. When calling overseas you need to consider the time difference.
Check the number. A great deal of money is wasted each year on dialing wrong numbers.
Plan your call. Make a list of points and questions to be raised.
Be prepared. Gather any files, papers or information that may be needed during the call. It is unprofessional to have to say “Hold on while I look for that.”
If you have to ask a caller to hold on, keep going back and assuring him/ her that you will be as quick as possible.
Avoid interruptions. Call at a time when you are unlikely to be distracted.
During the call
Be courteous, polite. Make time for suitable greetings like “How are you today, Jim?” and “Did you enjoy your holiday?”
Put a smile in your voice. Remember, your caller can’t see you, so use intonation to good effect and try to sound confident, decisive, helpful and interested.
Check your notes. Look back at your notes to ensure that you have covered everything and quote figures and other data correctly.
Obtain feedback. Make sure that caller understands the message correctly, especially where deadlines and actions that are involved.
Be courteous. Finish by thanking the caller for his or her time and trouble.
After the call
Make notes. Let it become a habit to make notes of the call and place them in an appropriate file.
Take actions. If you need to send a letter of confirmation or inform someone in your organization about any details of the call, do some immediately so that you do not forget important points.
1.What’s the main idea of this passage?
A. Using a telephone for business has strict rules.
B. While making a business phone call, you should be efficient first.
C. It’s necessary to learn how to use your phone for work.
D. The phone is playing a very important role in our daily life, especially in business.
2.Before calling, you have to ____.
A. stay at your company only. B. learn important data and figures by heart
C. get things ready for the communication D. choose the right time and place
3.What’s the meaning of the word “feedback”?
A. information B. present C. greeting D. reply
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Great Britain is traditionally made up of three parts: England in the south, Scotland in north and Wales in the southwest.
England is the largest and most developed of all the three. Its area, about 130,000 square kilometers, takes up nearly 60% of the whole island. Its population is mere than 46 million which makes up 85% of the country's whole population. The importance of England is so great in Britain that some foreigners just say “England” when they mean Britain. The same is true of the custom of speaking of the British people as the English who are the majority in the United Kingdom.
Scotland is the second largest both in area and population. It has an area of about 78,760 square kilometers, less than 30 % of the whole is land, with a population of 5 million, less than one-tenth of the total population.
Wales is the smallest of the three both in area and population. Its area, 20,700 square kilometers, makes up less than 9 % while its population, 2.7 million, does not exceed 5 % of the whole.
1.Which of the following maps shows the right position of England, Scotland and Wales? (E= England S= Scotland W = Wales)
2.If figure （图形） one below shows the area(面积) of Scotland, which picture in Figure two represents the area of Great Britain? ________
( Figure 1
) Figure2:
3.If Figure one below shows the population of the island, which picture in Figure two shows the population of Wales? ________
________
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
) Figure2: