I was bleeding now. My ears were red, my nose was broken, and the pain of failure was beginning. I had lost. It was over. The match was stopped. The world seemed to stand still for a moment as I looked at who had beaten me. “I’ve lost,” I said in m mind. “The last chance to win and I had lost.” It was the final round of wrestling. It was my last year at camp and I wanted to have an undefeated season. But now, I had lost in the tournament(锦标赛).
My coach came over to help me up. He saw that my nose was broken and realized that the match had to be stopped. He helped me up and I got small applause from my teammates. People on the other team just stared. Coach walked me over to the locker room to work on my nose.
“I’ll stop the bleeding,” Coach Matt said. His voice was cold and empty. He had expected me to win—he knew I could have won—but now he saw it was over. I had lost.
“Hey, Steve. You did good, man, He, well, he just…” my friend Paul couldn’t find what to say.
“Forget it, man.” I said, my nose still bleeding.
“Don’t talk or it won’t stop bleeding. Just relax and breath through your mouth.” Coach Matt’s voice was still cold, but warming slowly. He was like a father to me. He had been there through all my years of wrestling, all my wins and losess , all my hopes and dreams—and now he was there, fixing my smashed nose.
“This must have happened during that last throw. You fell too much on your face. You should’ve turned and tried to escape. You gotta think more.” Coach Matt began, his voice now warm like an old friend trying to give good advice.
“I wanted this so badly.” I said.
“Maybe we can get another contest because of the nose. You can still go undefeated! You can still do it…” Paul continued.
No, I lost. Nothing was left for me to do this year. This was supposed to be the year—no loses.” I said, cutting him off before he finished.
“Steve, you did your best. Come on. Let’s go and get your medal,” Coach said. He looked at me right in the eyes. “You gave it your all. You deserved that trophy(战利品), not the silver medal. You deserve it, but he is getting it. You really won and the whole team is proud.”
I walked up to get my medal, my head held high. I shook the hands of the judges and my opponent, took m medal and saw that, in the eyes of everyone, I had really won. No matter what trophy or medal my opponent took home, no matter what. He may have had my trophy, but he could never have my will.
1. The word “applause” in the second paragraph means _____.
A. cheers and hand—clapping B. shouts and crying
C. screaming and laughing D. noises and whistling
2. “You gave it your all.” means that _____.
A. you tried to win but you failed B. you have done your best to do it
C. you never gave up doing it D. you succeeded in everything
3. The hero lost his match. Both his coach and friends thought that _____.
A. he really showed his strength in it
B. he shouldn’t be encouraged and thought highly of
C. he could not match his opponent
D. he had lost heart at the end of the competition
4. According to the hero, at the end of the passage, we can suppose that____.
A. he had made up his mind to win all the matches the next season
B. he looked down upon his opponent and though nothing of it
C. he had strong will to become the best wrestler in the world
D. he wanted to end his career as a professional wrestler
It was August 2nd,1927.The news had spread fast.A man named Ralph Peer was coming to the city of Bristol.He wanted to make recordings of local people singing and playing musical instruments.And he said he would pay fifty dollars for each song recorded.That was a lot of money in those days.Many people came to Bristol that day to play for Mr.Peer.But one group seemed to have just the sound that he was looking for.They were a man named A.P.Carter,his wife Sara,and her cousin Maybelle.They called themselves the Carter Family.
Their first recordings were sent to radio stations throughout the United States.Many listeners were surprised at what they heard.Instead of classical or jazz songs that radio stations usually played,a new sound was born.The Carter Family sounded different.They did not sound as if they had taken music lessons.But it did not matter.The people in poor rural areas thought they sounded just like their neighbors.
The Carters sang songs about living in the mountains of Virginia,Tennessee,and North Carolina.They sang about the love of a young man for a special girl.They sang about the beauty of nature.They sang about death and sadness.And they sang religious songs that told of the hope for a better life after death.
A.P.Carter sang in the group and also searched for new songs.He often traveled long distances to small towns in the southeastern United States.He wanted to hear the songs that local people sang in their communities.He wrote down the words but kept the music in his memory.When he returned home,he helped Sara and Maybelle fit them to the Carter Family musical style.
The Carter Family soon became famous.They recorded more songs.They traveled to many cities and towns in the eastern United States to perform.Thousands of people heard them sing and bought their recordings.Some people estimate that within three years,the Carter Family sold three hundred thousand recordings.What does this passage mainly talk about?
A.A family born for music. |
B.A family singing differently. |
C.The first family of country music. |
D.A family singing in a group. |
When Mr.Peer heard the Carter Family's songs,he most probably felt ________.
A.disappointed | B.calm |
C.confused | D.excited |
Many listeners were surprised when they heard the Carter Family's singing because ________.
A.the family did not seem to be good at singing |
B.what the family sang sounded uncomfortable |
C.the family sang classical and jazz songs in a very different way |
D.the family sang something that they had never heard before |
What was A.P.Carter's purpose in traveling to small towns in the southeastern United States?
A.To ask for some advice on his music.
B.To collect songs sung by the local people there.
C.To introduce his music to the local people there.
D.To see if the local people there had heard his music.
Parents are creating an “I want it now” generation by indulging children's every demand at Christmas,say experts.Youngsters are becoming increasingly selfish,claim the education analysts.
Consumersavvy children are forcing their families into racking up huge debts and risk becoming spoilt and dissatisfied in the future.
Behavioural consultant Chris Calland said,“Parents are desperate to make Christmas into a magical fairy tale for their kids.There's nothing wrong with that as such.The problem arises when it means always giving in to all our children's demands—even if they are beyond our price range or not ageappropriate.”
Ms.Calland,who runs “Santa Says No” style sessions with colleague Nicky Hutchinson,added, “Many of us go into so much debt providing the gifts our children want that we spend the rest of the year paying off the bills.Yet so often the parcels we've carefully wrapped,once opened,are just pushed away because the very thing our little boy or girl was once so desperate for, they have now lost interest in.”
Ms. Calland and Ms.Hutchinson have drawn up a list of guidelines to help parents manage their offspring's Christmas lists this year.They say that adults can actually improve their relationships with their children by resisting “pester (纠缠) power”.
Ms.Calland said,“All too often we say yes because we want an easier life when the fact is that we're only building up problems for the future.We are helping create a generation of youngsters who are blind to the needs of others and the necessity of hard work.”
“Children learn fast—if we sometimes change our mind,they quickly realise it might be worth lying on the floor and screaming for it.Make sure you and your partner are working together on this.Be consistent.And try not to get caught up in competition with other families or friends.”How is the “I want it now” generation created?
A.Parents can't afford the gifts for their children. |
B.Parents become heavily in debt. |
C.Parents are trying to make Christmas into a magical fairy tale. |
D.Parents give children whatever they want at Christmas. |
What is the main problem with the “I want it now” generation?
A.They are quite selfcentered. |
B.They like to live in fairy tales. |
C.They waste a lot of money on gifts. |
D.They can't keep their interest in gifts. |
What is probably the aim of “Santa Says No” style sessions?
A.To advise on how to wrap gifts properly. |
B.To keep children's interest in the gifts. |
C.To tell parents how to say no to children's demands. |
D.To advise parents on what gifts to buy for children. |
According to the passage,we can infer that Ms.Calland intends to ________.
A.analyze children's behavior |
B.give advice to parents |
C.introduce a new generation |
D.give her support to parents |
Ms.Calland would agree that parents should ________.
A.buy nothing for children at Christmas |
B.choose gifts carefully for children |
C.let children choose their own gifts |
D.avoid competing with others |
All Ric O Barry wants is to stop the dolphinkilling, so he is headed to this seaside Japanese town, Taiji.The American activist, who is the star of a new awardwinning documentary that portrays the dolphinkilling here, got an unwelcome reception when he showed up here this week for the start of the annual hunt.
His movie, The Cove(海豚湾), directed by National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, was released in the United States a month ago but has not yet to come out in Japan.
Scenes in the film, some of which were shot secretly, show fishermen banging on metal poles stuck in the water to create a wall of sound that scares the dolphins— which have supersensitive sonar(声纳系统)—and sends them fleeing into a cove.
There, the fishermen sometimes pick a few to be sold for aquarium shows, for as much as $150,000. They kill the others, spearing(刺) the animals repeatedly until the water turns red. The meat from one dolphin is worth about 50,000 yen, and is sold at supermarkets across Japan.
Greenpeace and other groups have tried to stop the hunt for years.Activists hope The Cove will bring the issue to more people internationally—and eventually in Japan.
Already,the Australian town of Broome dropped its 28year sistercity relationship with Taiji last month,partly because of the movie.
“Some regions have a tradition of eating dolphin meat,” said fisheries official Toshinori Uoya. “Dolphinkilling may be negative for our international image, but it is not something orders can stop.”
The town government in Taiji—which has made whales and dolphins its trademark—refused to comment about The Cove, or the growing international criticism against dolphinkilling.
Many in Taiji take the dolphin hunt for granted as part of everyday life. They are defensive about The Cove,seeing themselves as powerless victims of overseas pressure to end a simple and honest way of making a living.Ric O Barry made The Cove because he wanted to ________.
A.stop the dolphinkilling |
B.win an international award |
C.support Greenpeace's efforts |
D.make Taiji wellknown in the world |
Viewers can learn from The Cove ________.
A.the advanced techniques to catch dolphins |
B.the cruel and bloody dolphinkilling |
C.the beautiful Japanese seaside town Taiji |
D.the sale of dolphin meat around the world |
What is the response to The Cove on the Japanese side?
A.Taiji broke up with its western sistercity Broome. |
B.Japanese officials decided to ban dolphinkilling. |
C.The town government in Taiji kept silent on criticism. |
D.Most Japanese people were against eating dolphin meat. |
What does the underlined word “defensive” probably mean?
A.Feeling guilty for killing dolphins. |
B.Protecting themselves against criticism. |
C.Attacking those against dolphinkilling. |
D.Making the determination to change. |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.Many people in Japan have seen The Cove in the cinema. |
B.The Cove has not influenced Japan's international image. |
C.Taiji's dolphinkilling industry has been seriously damaged. |
D.The Cove has brought international attention to dolphinkilling. |
The first flights of the new airlines that will take tourists into space are ready to take off in 2012, and getting a seat on one is not all that different from booking a trip someplace on Earth. You can sign up on the website of, say, Virgin Galactic,the most wellknown of the new space tourism companies, or go to an approved travel agency and put down a large deposit. Soon you will be able to buy travel insurance,just as you can for any other vacation.
Until now,space tourism has been limited to the ultrawealthy. Just seven people have paid tens of millions of dollars each for a trip to the International Space Station aboard a Russian rocket.
But that could change this year, when Virgin Galactic intends to start offering flights just beyond the space barrier on a rocket ship it has built, featuring five minutes of weightlessness during a twoandahalfhour tour. At $ 200,000 a seat, this will open the final frontier to far more people.
At least two other specialty airlines have jumped in as well, taking reservations and deposits for future space flights.Allianz, the big insurer, will introduce an insurance product in 2012, lending space tourism the trappings of the regular travel industry.
“Just to be able to sell space travel as a regular part of your business, really, just how cool is that?” said Lynda Turley Garrett, president of Alpine Travel of Saratoga, Calif.,who is one of 58 accredited space agents for Virgin Galactic in the United States.
In five years,Ms.Garrett has sold three seats. But she expects that to change once passengers start going up and coming down to tell their friends. “By 2017,it'll be just like scheduling a flight to L.A.,” Ms.Garrett predicted.If you want to book a flight to space in 2012, you can________.
A.go to any travel agency |
B.telephone Virgin Galactic |
C.pay a visit to Allianz |
D.sign up on the website of Virgin Galactic |
From Paragraph 2 we can know that ________.
A.only the extremely rich people can afford the space trip |
B.seven people have paid tens of millions of dollars for a space trip |
C.Russia is the first country to build the space station |
D.ordinary people are not allowed to take space tour |
Which of the following is true of Virgin Galactic?
A.It is one of the approved space agencies. |
B.It is a famous space tourism company. |
C.It sells insurance products to space tourists. |
D.Its rocket has carried space passengers successfully. |
What does the underlined word “trappings” in Paragraph 4 probably refer to?
A.Standard uniforms. |
B.Traditional decorations. |
C.Symbolic signs. |
D.Personal belongings. |
What does Ms. Garrett think of the future space travel?
A.Common. | B.Changeable. |
C.Flexible. | D.Reasonable. |
There are many things people do with their spare time.Have you ever thought about tuning(调音)your own piano for fun and profit?Are you a piano teacher or player who really does not want the expense of hiring a piano tuner and feels that you could do it yourself with a little training?Well,this is your lucky day.All you need are the right tools,a piano and patience.
So,why would I want to tune my piano?There are many reasons for tuning your own piano.
·It is a very pleasant thing to do.
·You can make up to $80 each time tuning other people's pianos.
·There are millions of pianos in the world and thousands of new ones are being sold every day.There are not enough piano tuners available to tune them all.
·You can provide a valuable service for friends,family and others.
·You can teach yourself very cheaply and then develop it into a parttime or fulltime business.
You may have thought that only a trained expert could do this,someone who had devoted years of study and developed a sense of perfect pitch(音高).In the past,tuning a piano was as much an art form as it was a technology exercise,but now the balance is swaying(摇动) more towards the technology and the final result is as good or even better than tuning by ear.
A few simple tools and a laptop computer with tuning software are all that are required.The real secret is the tuning software,which makes the whole process extremely easy.It means you do not have to train your ears but just look at the laptop screen to know when the piano string is in tune.
I have put together an ebook in my website with all the information you need to get started tuning your own piano, where to get the free software and where to buy the tools.
I hope I have inspired you to think about piano tuning and actually give it a go.You will find it a very rewarding and pleasant activity even if it remains just a hobby.The writer asks two questions in the first paragraph to ________.
A.show his doubt on the topic |
B.ask readers to answer the questions clearly |
C.encourage readers to make comments on the topic |
D.attract readers to more information on this topic |
According to the passage,why should you learn to tune pianos?
A.To offer help to piano tuners. |
B.To save money and earn money as well. |
C.Because it can help you make a piano yourself. |
D.Because it can help you learn how to play the piano. |
What makes piano tuning easier now?
A.Advanced technology. |
B.More effective training. |
C.More chances of practicing. |
D.Traditional tuning methods. |
If you want to get the tuning software and tools,you can ________.
A.get them for free from the piano sellers |
B.buy them from the writer's online shops |
C.make them yourself according to the passage |
D.surf the writer's website for the information |
In the last paragraph,the writer mainly wants to show that ________.
A.one must be active to play the piano |
B.piano tuning will be popular in the future |
C.it's valuable to take piano tuning as a hobby |
D.it's difficult to tune pianos without professional training |