Paul Zindel’s death on March 27,2003 ended the brilliant life of a famous writer. Not only did Paul Zindel win a Pulitzer Prize as well as an Obie Prize for his 1970 play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, but be was one of the earliest writers in the field of contemporary（当代的） literature for young adults（成人）. The Pigman, published in 1968, is still one of the most well-known and widely-taught novels in the genre. The American Library Association has named it one of the 100 Best of the Best Books for Young Adults published between 1967 and 1992, and Zindel’s autobiography, The Pigman and Me, was among the 100 Best of the Best Books published for teenagers during the last part of the twentieth century. Six of Zindel’s books, in fact, have been voted the Best Books for Young Adults, and most of his recent horror books-such as The Doom Stone and Rats－have been chosen as Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Clearly, he was a writer who knew how to interest contemporary children. Recognizing that, the American Library Association in 2002 honored Paul Zindel with the Margaret A. Edwards Prize for his lifetime achievements, and later that same year he was presented with the ALAN Prize for his contributions to Young Adult Literature. With his passing, young readers, teachers, and librarians have lost a great friend.
56．Which of Paul Zindel’s books was the most popular with young adults in the 20th century?
A．The Pigman. B．The Doom Stone.
C．The Pigman and Me. D．The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.
57．Why was Paul Zindel honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Prize?
A．His books were widely read by children.
B．His books were interesting and helpful to adults.
C．He made great contributions to contemporary literature.
D．He wrote a number of horror books for young adults.
58．When did Paul Zindel win the ALAN Prize?
A．In 2002. B．In 2003.
C．Between 1967 and 1992. D．Between 2002 and 2003.
59．Choose the correct statements from the following according to the passage.
a.The Pigman and Me was one of the Best Books for teenagers.
b.Zindel was one of the earliest writers who wrote for adults only.
c.The Doom Stone and Rats are not popular with young adults.
d.Zindel was given four prizes for literature before he died.
e.At least eight of Zindel’s books were very popular in his times.
A．c, d, e B．a, b, c C．a, b, d D．a, d, e
THERE is an old saying: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” It means that you shouldn’t build your first impression of someone on his or her looks alone. But according to a new study, the famous sayingmight not be correct after all. A group of US scientists have found that the first impression we have of someone else is actually right most of the time.
In the study, scientists asked participants to look at a photograph of a person and make a quick judgment about him or her. A month later, the participant and the person in the photo were introduced, and scientists were shocked to find that their judgments oftenmatch those that they had made originally.
It’s true that simply looking at someone won’t provide you with as much information.But, according to scientists, when makinga first impression, people rely more on their instincts (直觉) than on logic (逻辑).“They focus on how that person makes them feel,” Paul Eastwick of the University of Texas told Live Science. “It is very hard to get a sense of this information when simply viewing a profile(简介).As soon as one sees another person, an impression is formed and what we see can sometimes dominate what we know.”
Of course, no one can be right about everything and your instincts can go wrong sometimes. But even if it is proven to be wrong, once people form an opinion about someone, they have a hard time getting over that opinion later on.
The findings help explain why people always tidy themselves up before meeting guests or doing job interviews.
“Their face constantlyremindsus of that firstimpression,” said Rule. People may learn more about another person over time once they get close to each other, but first impressions remain very important and seem difficult to forget.What did the US scientists of the University of Texas find out in their recent study?
| A．It’s unwise to judge a book by its cover. |
| B．It’s better to judge by logic than by instincts. |
| C．First impressions tend to last more often than not. |
| D．Profiles provide more information than you have imagined. |
The underlined word “dominate” is closest in meaning to .
| A．determine | B．change |
| C．cover | D．acquire |
We can conclude from the article that ______.
| A．first impressions never go wrong |
| B．it’s difficult to change a wrong first impression |
| C．it takes a long time to form a first impression |
| D．first impressions are easy to change after people know each other better |
| Museum of the Moving Image (MMI) (Monday Closed) As the best museum in New York City and with a balance of hands-on（实际操作的）activities and information, it’s the rare bird that can entertain and educate people of different ages. It’s a perfect destination for a family trip of a couple of hours. Pros--Excellent movie screenings. Easy subway access. Cons--Difficult to reach by car. |
| New York Hall of Science (NYHS) (Monday Closed) Being New York City’s only hands-on science and technology center, it is an interactive science museum focusing on its audience of children. It has the most hands-on exhibits in an NYC museum, and it’s a fun destination for ages 5 and up. Older folks might take great interest in the NASA rockets outside the museum, but don’t bother unless you’ve kids to keep you company. Pros--Cool interactive science exhibits, the rockets. Cons--Hard to reach by public transportation. |
| Queens County Farm Museum (QCFM) ( Year-round 7days a week ) It is an actual farm in New York City and home to animals your kids can feed and a yard full of a climbing plant whose fruit can be made into wine. Good chance to meet sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and cows! The animals are mostly readily accessible to visitors. And the museum sells food for young hands willing to get licked by sheep and goats. Pros--Outdoor fun. Cons--Expensive festivals, long bus ride, no subway. |
| Queens Museum of Art (QMA) ( Monday and Tuesday Closed) Opened in 1972 to serve as a cultural center for the borough(行政区), it exhibits art by local and international artists. Its best exhibits are on the two World’s Fairs, and of course, the Panorama of New York City, a giant, highly detailed diorama(透景画) of all five New York City boroughs. Pros--The Panorama, great gift shop. Easy subway access. Cons--Not much for kids. |
The least likely choice for 5-year-old Jack to make among the museums is __________.
| A．QMA | B．NYHS | C．MMI | D．QCFM |
According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．All the museums mentioned above lie in New York City. |
| B．No other museum in New York City is better than MMI. |
| C．NYHS has the most hands-on activities in America. |
| D．Lucky visitors can see grapes in one of the museums. |
In which museum can you enjoy outdoor fun?
A. MMI. B. QCFM. C. NYHS. D. QMA.
The time of year a baby is born can shape what profession they will embark on in later life, a new study has suggested. Being born in a certain month appears to indicate the possibility of what job a person will end up with, the study by the Office for National Statistics found.
Researchers have uncovered that the month in which babies are born could also affect everything from intelligence to length of life. A child born in December is more likely to become a dentist while someone whose birthday falls in January will tend to a debt collector, they found.
A February birth appears to increase the chances of being an artist while March babies appear to go on to become pilots. Meanwhile, April and May are said to have a fairly even spread of professions, births in the summer months mean a much lower chance of becoming a high-earning football player, doctor or dentist. The study was gained by researchers who analyzed the birth months of people in 19 separate occupations using information from the last census (人口普查), the Daily Mail reported. Although these trends may be difficult to explain, relations between birth months and specific health problems have a scientific basis.
Spring babies are at greater risk of illnesses including schizophrenia(精神分裂症), Alzheimer’s disease(早老性痴呆病), asthma(哮喘) and autism(自闭症). They may also be less clever than classmates born in other parts of the year.What does the underlined phrase “embark on” refer to?
| A．land on | B．keep in touch with |
| C．be engaged in | D．break from |
According to the researchers, a child born in March is likely to become_______.
| A．a debt collector | B．a pilot |
| C．a dentist | D．an artist |
We can learn from the text that______.
| A．the month babies are born could only affect his intelligence and length of life |
| B．People born in the summer months are more likely to get highly paid |
| C．Spring babies may have the bigger chance to get ill |
| D．the choice of profession for April and May is very narrow |
What can be included from the passage?
| A．There exist connections between birth date and occupations |
| B．The fate has been already decided when people are born |
| C．People born in Autumn would be more successful than those born in Spring |
| D．The time of year one is born decides which specific health problems one has |
As long as I can remember, I've always loved to draw. But my interest in drawing wasn't encouraged very much. Growing up in the 1950s, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, boys were supposed to be athletic. Certain peer pressures encouraged little fingers to learn how to hold footballs rather than crayons.
My early love for drawing developed into a love for telling stories through pictures. Stories began as fragments (片段) of pictures in my mind. I created a story by posing questions to myself. I called it the “what if” and “what then” approach. For example, for my book The Polar Express, I started out by thinking “What if a boy gets on that train? Where does he go？”
From the time I come up with the idea, write and illustrate the book, and deliver it to the printer, it takes about seven months. First, I begin thinking of the idea. Then I imagine the pictures and the story. A good picture book should have events that are visually arresting. I first consider scenes that are exciting to look at and then my challenge is to weave a story around those pictures. The next step is putting the illustrations and story down on paper.
When you first look at my illustrations, you see ordinary, everyday things. But if you look closer, things might not seem quite so simple. When I'm writing a book, I always try to create something strange or puzzling in each picture. By using artistic strategies, I can give the drawing a kind of mysterious quality.
All of my books are picture books, so they are generally thought of as books for children. But when I make them, I think of the books as being for everybody — for people of all ages. When I was a kid, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, but now I'm really glad I became an artist and a storyteller.Why does the author mention The Polar Express?
| A．To tell us an interesting story. |
| B．To introduce his famous work. |
| C．To make up a sentence with “what if”． |
| D．To show us how he designed his book. |
The underlined word “arresting” in Paragraph 3 probably means ________.
| A．frightening | B．interesting |
| C．satisfying | D．worrying |
Which of the following is TRUE about the author?
| A．He did well when he was at school. |
| B．He only wrote something for children. |
| C．He tried his best to meet the readers' taste. |
| D．He regretted not working hard at drawing. |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Telling Stories by Drawing |
| B．“What if” and “What Then” |
| C．How to Tell Interesting Stories |
| D．Working as a Famous Storyteller |
Thirteen vehicles lined up last March to race across the Mojave Desert, seeking a million in prize money. To win, they had to finish the 142mile race in less than 10 hours. Teams and watchers knew there might be no winner at all, because these vehicles were missing a key part — drivers.
DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, organized the race as part of a push to develop robotic vehicles for future battlefields. But the Grand Challenge, as it was called, just proved how difficult it is to get a car to speed across an unfamiliar desert without human guidance. One had its brake lock up in the starting area. Another began by throwing itself onto a wall. Another got tied up by bushes near the road after 1.9 miles.
One turned upside down. One took off in entirely the wrong direction and had to be disabled by remote control. One went a little more than a mile and rushed into a fence; another managed to go for six miles but stuck on a rock. The “winner”， if there was any, reached 7.8 miles before it ran into a long narrow hole, and the front wheels caught on fire.
“You get a lot of respect for natural abilities of the living things，” says Reinhold Behringe, who helped design two of the carsize vehicles for a company called SciAutonics.“Even ants can do all these tasks effortlessly. It's very hard for us to put these abilities into our machines.”
The robotic vehicles, though with necessary modern equipment such as advanced computers and GPS guidance, had trouble figuring out fast enough the blocks ahead that a twoyearold human recognizes immediately. Sure, that very young child, who has just only learned to walk, may not think to wipe apple juice off her face, but she already knows that when there's a cookie in the kitchen she has to climb up the table, and that when she gets to the cookie it will taste good. She is more advanced, even months old, than any machine humans have designed.
Watchers doubted if any of the vehicles could finish the race because ________.
| A．they did not have any human guidance |
| B．the road was not familiar to the drivers |
| C．the distance was too long for the vehicles |
| D．the prize money was unattractive to the drivers |
From the passage we know “robotic vehicles” are a kind of machines that________.
| A．can do effortlessly whatever tasks living things can |
| B．can take part in a race across 142miles with a time limit |
| C．can show off their ability to turn themselves upside down |
| D．can move from place to place without being driven by human beings |
In the last paragraph, the author implies that there is a long way to go ________.
| A．for a robotic vehicle to finish a 142mile race without any difficulties |
| B．for a little child who has just learned to walk to reach the cookie on the table |
| C．for a robotic vehicle to deal with a simple problem that a little child can solve |
| D．for a little child to understand the importance of wiping apple juice off his/her face |