The lower East Side is neither rich nor beautiful, but it can be a good place to shop.
On Sundays, its streets are crowded with visitors and shoppers like these. They are trying to find a coat or a pair of shoes at a good price.
Most people prefer to shop in the big department stores like Macy’s, Gimbel’s, or Bloomingdale’s because there they can find clothing, furniture, toys, and food in one store.
Some people like the smaller stores of Greenwich Village or other areas when they are looking for an unusual present.
Some streets have only one kind of stores. Bracelets (手镯) and rings shine in the windows of Canal Street, and wedding dresses fill the stores of Grant Street. There are streets for furs(皮大衣), and, in one.comarea, there are 600 shops for antiques (古玩)! Fifth Avenue is the most famous place to shop, and it is usually the most expensive. There you can find the latest styles from Paris, Italy, or New York. You can spend thousands of dollars on Fifth Avenue, or you can just window shop and admire the sights for free.
1. How many kinds of shops or stores on the lower East Side are mentioned in the passage?
A. Four. B. Five. C. Six. D. Seven.
2. If you want to buy something fashionable to wear, you’d better go to .
A. Grant Street B. the big department stores
C. Fifth Avenue D. the smaller stores of Greenwich Village
3. Why does the writer say that the lower East Side can be a good place to shop?
A. Because its streets are crowded with visitors.
B. Because there are latest style from Paris, Italy, or New York.
C. Because there are different goods in different stores they can meet the needs of the visitors and shoppers.
D. Because women want very much to go there and buy bracelets and rings.
4. The underlined words window shop in the sentence means “ ”.
A. put all one’s goods in the shop-window
B. look at goods displayed in shop-windows
C. not only look at goods displayed in shop-window but also want to buy something
D. take much interest in the goods and have the idea of buying something
5. The last five words “admire the sights for free” of the passage means “ ”.
A. get pleasure from the sight at no cost
B. buy and sell goods freely
C. look at the sights as much as you like
D. look at the sight with pleasure and buy something as you like
About 12,000 years ago- long before the famous UFO crash make headlines in America—an alien spaceship crashed in China. And their descendants are still living in a faraway Chinese village today! That is the mind-bending claim made in the new book Out of Time and Place, a collection of reports from the files of Fate, a magazine edited by Terry O’Neil.
The story first came to light in 1937 when an expedition led by Chi Pu-Tei came across a group of caves deep in the Bayan-Kara-Ula Mountains. In the caves were found strange-looking skeletons with big heads and small, slender bodies—closely matching typical descriptions of space aliens. The explorers also uncovered 716 mysterious stone discs with strange hieroglyphics(象形文字) on them.
In Qinghai Province, where the mountains lie, ancient stories tell of small, skinny beings with oversize heads who came from the sky long long ago. And to this day, locals live in fear of attack from strange-looking creatures from above.
And there is more. In 1947, British scientist Karyl Robin-Evans led an expedition into the mountains and discovered a group of dwarfs(侏儒) who called themselves the Droza. “They told him that their ancestors came from a planet in the Sirius（天狼星）system and crashed in this mountain area a long time ago,” writes Hausdorf, “Many of them were killed, but survivors adapted to living on this rough planet far from home.”
For decades, Robin-Evans’ claims were dismissed as nonsense. But in 1995, the Associated Press reported that in the region a village named Huilong had been discovered—populated by 120 dwarfs ranging from 3-foot-10 to 2-foot-1tall.Hausdorf asks, “Could these people be the last living descendants of the survivors of the legendary UGO crash—the Chinese Roswell?”Which of the following are the findings of Chi Pu-Tei?
a. strange-looking skeletons b. UFO crash
c. stone discs d. dwarfs
e. strange hieroglyphics f. skinny beings
| A．a, c, d | B．c, e, f | C．a, c, e | D．a, b, e |
Paragraph 3 and 4 mainly _____.
| A．introduce ancient stories in Qinghai Province |
| B．show evidence of the existence of aliens in Qinghai Province |
| C．express fears of attack from aliens |
| D．describe the spaceship crash in China |
What can be safely concluded from the passage?
| A．This passage is a piece of science news recently issued. |
| B．Chinese are descendants to the survivors of the alien spaceship crash |
| C．The UFO crash in the Byan-Kara-Ula Mountains has recently been seen |
| D．Many people are curious about aliens from outer space |
What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
| A．Recent research about the Chinese Roswell. |
| B．News stories about Roswell UFO Crash. |
| C．Chi Pu-Tei’s discovery in China. |
| D．Robin-Evans’ claims. |
The word doping is probably from the Dutch word dop, the name of an alcoholic drinks make of grape skins used by Zulu soldiers in order to encourage their bravery in battle. The term became current around the turn of the 20th century, originally referring to illegal drugging of racehorses. In 1928 the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) became the first to ban the use of doping. A reliable test method was finally introduced in 1974.
The practice of enhancing athletes’ performance through foreign substance or other artificial means, however, is as old as competitive sport itself. The most famous doping case of the 1980s concerned Ben Johnson, the 100-meter champion who tested positive for stanozolol(司坦咗醇) at the Olympic Games in Seoul, 1988.
The main front in the anti-doping war has rapidly shifted to blood doping since 1970s. Blood doping is the practice of adding red blood cells to the bloodstream in order to improve athletes’ performance. The blood is usually processed in order to create a concentration of red blood cells, and then freeze them until needed for transfusion(输血) back into the athlete shortly before the event. The extra red blood cells will deliver more oxygen and other essential elements to the athlete’s muscle tissues.
Just like any other problem, the only way to solve it is through education. Many high school sports programs now have people come in to talk to them about out the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs. Young players must be fully clear on the rules and what substances are banned. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has an easily accessible list of what substances are banned, how they are tested for and why they are banned on its website. This way, young players are clear on what they can put in their bodies. This is also a good way to educate players on the danger of the substances they may be tempted to use.The word “enhancing” in the first sentence of the second paragraph means “_____”.
| A．showing | B．directing | C．upsetting | D．improving |
What can we know from the third paragraph?
| A．Blood doping is transferring one man’s blood into another |
| B．Only blood doping exists in the anti-doping war in the 1970s. |
| C．Blood doping is easy to be found and controlled by organizations. |
| D．More oxygen in the blood helps improve an athlete’s performance. |
The word “people” in the second sentence of the fourth paragraph probably refers to _____.
| A．teachers who teach P.E. lessons at school |
| B．experts who do research in doping |
| C．young people easy to be addicted to doping |
| D．athletes involved in doping |
Which statement best matches the last paragraph?
| A．Prevention is better than cure. |
| B．Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. |
| C．The best horse needs breaking, and the cleverest child needs teaching. |
| D．A little learning is a dangerous thing. |
Televisions, stereos, telephones, and computers have changed the way we spend our time and what we know about the world. Some of the changes brought about by these material possessions have improved our way of life, but others have made it worse. Our young teenagers turn on the television, play the stereo, play games on the computer, talk on the telephone, and eat all the same time. This drives me right up the wall to instant insanity(精神失常).
However, teens of today place too great an importance on material property. They spend an average of several hours a day watching television, listening to stereos, playing on the computer, playing video games, and talking on the telephone. Families no longer watch television together and there is great lack of communication. Materialism is evident when an otherwise intelligent teenager drives their parents crazy, and into debt, when misusing communication equipment. Teens judge and admire other teens for what they own and have, rather than for what they are or what they can do. They no longer care about values, like honesty, integrity(正直), freedom, talent, quality and other values and morals.
However, good or bad, communication devices are here to stay. It is up to us, as parents, to stop our beloved teenagers from misusing and abusing our communication equipment and devices. We need to avoid the problems they present and to make the most of their opportunities they possess and hold for us all.The writer’s attitude toward the modern material possessions is generally _____.
| A．positive | B．negative | C．neutral | D．indifferent |
According to the writer, teens’ overuse of communication equipment can do harm to _____.
| A．their own health | B．their own study |
| C．their own morality | D．their neighbors’ life |
The writer attributes (归咎) the unsatisfactory behavior of teens to _____.
| A．teens’ too much free time | B．parents’ non-interference |
| C．inadequate school education | D．material property |
It can be inferred from the passage that the writer seems to be most annoyed at ______.
| A．all the modern material possession | B．eating while talking on the phone |
| C．the decline in teens’ morality | D．all the communication equipment |
According to US research, it can take up to ten years to become a near-native English speaker. Asian and Spanish students took between five and ten years to reach native speaker performance in English-only schools. Fluency obviously doesn’t happen overnight. But time can definitely make you a better speaker.
After testing his own memory, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that humans forget most of what they learn in the first 20 minutes.
So cramming right before a speaking exam is not likely to be as effective as practicing regularly over time. The more you practice, the more familiar new words will become. In the classroom, studies have also shown that repeating oral tasks improves a speaker’s performance.
One of the best repetition exercises is the 4/3/2 technique. Speakers give the same talk to three different listeners with a progressive decrease in delivery time, starting at four minutes, then three, and finally two minutes. This exercise has been proven to help learners speak faster. It can also result in less hesitation and more grammatical accuracy. While time dose make a difference when it comes to speaking perfect English, it would not hurt to brush up on your other language skills.
Studies have also shown that reading can increase your speaking vocabulary. After one month of an extensive reading program, a 27-year-old student of French became more familiar with 65 percent of the new words.
Aside from choosing the right learning methods, having certain personality traits may also help. US linguistics expert Stephen Krashen believes those with high motivation, self-confidence and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for speaking success.
Krashen says students who don’t have these qualities are more likely to have a “mental block”. “Even if they understand the message, the input will not reach the part of the brain responsible for language acquisition,” he writes in his book Principles and Practice in second Language Acquisition.According to the passage, if you want to be a near-native speaker, you need _____.
| A．long-term speaking practice and much reading |
| B．speaking practice for ten years only |
| C．long-term speaking practice, much reading and certain qualities |
| D．cramming new words every day |
The author put forward the 4/3/2 technique just to show that _____.
| A．you should speak to 3 different people |
| B．you should speak to 3 different people at 3 different times |
| C．it can prevent you from making grammar mistakes |
| D．it is really a good way to make you a better speaker |
The example of a 27-year-old student of French in the passage mainly means that _____.
| A．reading can enlarge your vocabulary for your speaking |
| B．reading can make you memorize just 65 percent of the new words |
| C．the 27-year-old student of French is very clever |
| D．in one month, you can improve your speaking ability |
The underlined phrase “linguistics expert” means a person who is quite expert at _____.
| A．languages | B．spoken language |
| C．scientific research | D．teaching English |
Danielle Steel, America's sweetheart, is one of the hardest working women in the book business. Unlike other productive authors who write one book at a time, she can work on up to five. Her research time before writing takes at least three years. Once she has fully studied her subjects, ready to dive into a book, she can spend twenty hours nonstop at her desk.
Danielle Steel comes from New York and was sent to France for her education. After graduation, she worked in the public relations and advertising industries. Later she started a job as a writer which she was best fit for. Her achievements are unbelievable: 390 million copies of books in print, nearly fifty New York Times best-selling novels, and a series of "Max and Martha" picture books for children to help them deal with the real-life problems of death, new hobbies and new schools. Her 1998 book about the death of her son shot to the top of the New York Times best-selling list as soon as it came out. Twenty-eight of her books have been made into films. She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for one of her books being the Times best-seller for 381 weeks straight.
Not content with a big house, a loving family, and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Danielle Steel considers her readers to be the most important resource(资源) and has kept in touch with them by e-mail. While she is often compared to the heroines(女主人公) of her own invention, her life is undoubtedly much quieter. But, if she does have anything in common with them, it is her strength of will and her inimitable(独特的) style. There is only one Danielle Steel.Children who have read "Max and Martha" picture books may know ______.
| A．how to deal with affairs at school |
| B．what to do if Max and Martha die |
| C．what to do when new babies are born into their families |
| D．how to solve the difficult problems in their writing classes |
One of Danielle Steel's achievements is that ______.
| A．some TV plays were based on her books |
| B．her picture books attracted a lot of young men |
| C．one of her books became a best-seller in 1998 |
| D．she wrote the Guinness Book of World Records |
We can learn from the passage that Danielle Steel _____.
| A．lives an exciting life | B．value her readers a lot |
| C．writes about quiet women | D．is pleased with her achievements |