MOST recently, my world has been shaken by the death of a teacher at my school. He was Dr Allan Woolley and he was only 52. Suddenly he took his own life, which remains a mystery.
That morning, everyone sensed that something wasn't right. During our lessons, an announcement was made that an assembly (集会) was scheduled for morning break, which was only done in emergencies.
Once morning break came, the entire school gathered in the main hall. As our headmaster marched out to announce the "momentous (重大的) news", it felt like the air around us trembled . Many students broke down in tears, and the reaction afterward was intensely powerful and unifying .
The headmaster said that students were allowed to miss lessons and have a free period to collect themselves if they found the news too distressing (悲伤的). Many students went outside and shared memories of Dr Woolley to control theirselves.
Dr Woolley taught me chemistry two years ago, but up until his death he still taught many of my close friends. Many of my friends were so shocked that they still couldn't believe the person that they had owed (欠) some homework to was now dead.
It was heart-warming to spend time with teachers that morning and get to know more about them. Despite the time of sadness, I feel that every cloud has a silver lining. Although Dr Woolley's death is something nobody wanted to see, we must move on.What did the students feel at the news of his teacher’s death?
A.unhappy B shocked C.surprised D.silentWhat does the underlined word “collect” in Paragraph4 mean?
| A．bring something together | B．calm down |
| C．increase in amount | D．get and keep |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The real cause of Dr Woolley’s death is known to us. |
| B．Many students didn’t prepare themselves for the bad news so that they felt very sad. |
| C．It takes the whole school some time to recover from the dispressing news. |
| D．Dr Woolley’s death allows students to understand teachers better. |
It can be inferred from the underlined sentences in the last paregraph that______.
| A．Dr Woolley’s death made students sad. |
| B．There is still some comfort and hope in trouble |
| C．Dr Woolley’s death disappointed students greatly |
| D．We should forget the fact to study better. |
The best title for the passage should be_______.
| A．Our School Faces a Tragedy |
| B．Dr Woolley—A Great Teacher |
| C．The Living Live For the Death |
| D．Lesson From the Death. |
Loneliness is all about feeling isolated, but it's actually quite common. In general, there are three different types of loneliness.
The first kind of loneliness is temporary. It is the most common type but usually disappears quickly and does not require any special attention. The second kind, situational loneliness, is a natural result of a particular situation, such as, family problem, the death of a loved one, or moving to a new place. Although this kind of loneliness can cause physical problems, it usually does not last for more than a year. The third kind of loneliness is chronic (the opposite of “temporary”). Being the most severe, it usually lasts for more than two years and is often connected with serious illnesses.
An important factor in loneliness is a person’s social contacts. Through social contacts, we get emotional support and guidance from our parents and teachers and share similar interests and activities with our friends. However, some lonely people almost make no contacts with people around them and feel apart from those who they supposedly know well. They just see themselves as outsiders. On the other hand, some lonely people may have enough social contacts, but they rarely enjoy the contacts and question their popularity, thinking of themselves as someone powerless. So loneliness is closely related to the quality of those social relationship in addition to the quantity.
Loneliness is tough, but something can be done to cope with it. First, take time to accept that you are suffering from loneliness. Then, contact your old friends or visit relatives to spend quality time with others. Besides, pick up a hobby to reduce your feelings of loneliness, such as taking up needle work, joining craft classes, or attending lectures. You can also beat loneliness by volunteering at a nursing home, hospital, church or pet rescue organization. This not only helps you get in touch with people from all walks of life, but also makes you feel good about yourself. In a word, if you take a correct attitude towards loneliness and get involved with people around you, you are sure to get over it.
| Loneliness Loneliness is quite common. Ⅰ. 1 ●Temporary loneliness: disappearing quickly and requiring 2 ●Situational loneliness: resulting from some particular situation, 3and lasting not more than one year ● 4: lasting more than two years and being connected with serious illnesses Ⅱ. An important factor in loneliness: 5 ●Lack social relationship quantity: feeling disconnected with others treating themselves as 6 ●Lack 7: questioning their popularity treating themselves as powerless people Ⅲ. 8for lonely people ●Face the problem and accept it ●Contact 9for quality time ●Pick up hobbies ● 10 Taking a correct attitude and getting involved with others, people are sure to get over loneliness. |
In James Cameron’s fantasy films, such as Avatar and The Abyss, the unexplored is decorated in color and filled with alien danger. But on his dive to the deepest place on Earth, which took place on a Sunday last month, reality proved far different: white, deserted, and dull.
“I felt like I literally had gone to another planet and come back,” Cameron said after returning from the cold, dark place in the western Pacific Ocean, nearly 7 miles (11km) below the surface. “It was a very fantastic day.” Cameron is the first person to explore the deepest valley in the ocean since two men made a 20-minute trip there in 1960.
He spent about three hours gliding through the icy darkness, brightened only by lights on the one-man sub(潜水艇). This deepest section of the Mariana Trench is so untouched that at first it appeared dull. But there’s something strangely interesting about the first pieces of video that Cameron shot — a sense of aloneness.
“It’s really the sense of isolation, realizing how tiny you are down in this big, black and unexplored place,” the Titanic director said. The wordless minute-long video, released by sponsor National Geographic, shows Cameron’s sub gliding across what he calls “the very soft, almost gelatinous(胶状的) flat plain.”
To Cameron, the main thing was to appreciate being there. “There had to be a moment where I just stopped, and took it in, and said, ‘This is where I am; I’m at the bottom of the ocean, the deepest place on Earth. What does that mean?’” Cameron told reporters during a conference call. The trip was only about half as long as planned because Cameron’s battery ran low. He said he would return and film it in 3D for later viewing.
“I see this as the beginning,” Cameron said. “It’s not a one-time deal and then moving on. This is the beginning of opening up this new frontier.”Why did Cameron dive to the deepest place on Earth?
| A．To study ocean creatures in the deepest valley. |
| B．To prove his strong will and perseverance. |
| C．To get support from National Geographic. |
| D．To open up a new frontier. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Cameron’s fantasy film, Avatar was inspired by his dive to the deepest place on Earth. |
| B．Cameron glided through the icy darkness alone by lights of the one-man sub. |
| C．Cameron didn’t stay at the bottom of the ocean as planned because he was worn out. |
| D．Cameron felt bored when he went to the deepest valley in the ocean. |
The underlined sentence in the passage means that ______.
| A．he appreciated and took pride in being at the bottom of the ocean |
| B．he was disappointed because the trip was only about half as long as planned |
| C．Cameron wanted to show the public he had been to the deepest place on Earth |
| D．he wouldn’t stop exploring the deepest place in the future |
According to the passage, which of the following words best describes Cameron?
| A．Generous. | B．Diligent. |
| C．Self-centered. | D．Adventurous. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．James Cameron’s Fantasy Films. |
| B．The First to Explore the Deepest Place on Earth. |
| C．A Dive to the Deepest Place on Earth. |
| D．Crazy Cameron. |
Located along California’s San Andreas Fault, the city of San Francisco is likely to take precautions(预防，防备) in the event of the next big earthquake.
According to a New York Times report, emergency planners in San Francisco are not only thinking of human evacuation(撤离，疏散) plans in the event of an earthquake, but also of how to care for pets during a natural disaster. Ideally, the planners will be able to train pet-disaster responders who work to evacuate dogs, cats and other household pets from the disaster site to one of the 125 temporary animal shelters that will be set up or, if the pet is injured, it will be brought to an emergency animal medical unit where there will be people on hand to tend to the pet’s injury. The city’s “no-pets-left-behind” policy results from the great number of pet deaths during the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.
As emergency responders arrived to rescue people isolated in their homes during Katrina, hurricane victims were told that they could not take their pets along with them when evacuating; thus, many pet owners were forced to make the heart-breaking decision to save themselves while leaving their pets behind to perhaps meet their deaths.
Since then, the U.S. has passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006, allocating federal funds for animal disaster planning projects. Yet, not all counties are as progressive as San Francisco has been in the effort to protect pets in the event of a natural disaster. Pets are after all, a large part of San Francisco’s population — overnumbering the number of school age children in the city.
Over the last three years, San Francisco has received $350,000 in federal funds designated to animal disaster preparedness efforts in order to protect animals in the case of a disaster such as an earthquake. The city is still working on obtaining $300,000 to pay for an emergency animal unit. Until then, animal lovers in San Francisco will continue to work to ensure that pets are never an afterthought when it comes to rescues during earthquakes or other life threatening situations.We learn from the second paragraph that ______.
| A．emergency planners in San Fransico only consider human evacuation plans in a disaster |
| B．emergency planners in San Fransico only think about pet evacuation plans during a disaster |
| C．the safety of both humans and pets in a disaster is taken seriously |
| D．emergency medical units will be used only for humans |
What do we know about Hurricane Katrina?
| A．A great number of pets died during Hurricane Katrina. |
| B．San Francisco’s “no-pets-left-behind” policy had been made before Hurricane Katrina. |
| C．The pet owners chose to sacrifice themselves in order to save their pets. |
| D．Emergency responders failed to rescue the hurricane victims. |
Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．San Fransisco has made great effort to protect pets in a natural disaster. |
| B．The number of school age children in San Fransisco is smaller than that of pets. |
| C．The U.S. government has spent money on animal disaster planning projects. |
| D．All the countries are in the effort to protect pets in a natural disaster. |
The underlined word “designated” in the last paragraph most probably means ______.
| A．loaned | B．allocated | C．replaced | D．obtained |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．How to take precautions in the earthquake. |
| B．Human evacuation plans in the earthquake. |
| C．Taking steps to care for pets during a natural disaster. |
| D．How to train pets to escape from a disaster. |
Careercast.com is out with its list of best and worst jobs of 2012. It’s bad news for the writer of this story, but much brighter for the folks who program the code that keeps this website busy.
Using a method that looked at physical demands, work environment, income, stress and hiring outlook, career Website Careercast.com, ranked the top 200 jobs. They also ranked the jobs with the most stress. Not surprisingly, none of the most stressful jobs show up on the best jobs list.
At the top is software engineer and at the bottom is the lumberjack. Cutting trees failed to skate above the bottom 10 percent in all ranking categories, except income. “Unemployment for lumberjacks is very high, and the demand for their services is expected to continue to fall through 2016. And while working outside all day may seem like a great job perk(有额外津贴的工作), being a lumberjack not only is considered the worst job, but also one of the world’s most dangerous,” according to Careercast.com. And, for that most dangerous job, a lumberjack earns a little more than $32,000 a year. That’s about $56,000 less than the easy job of a software engineer, which has the average salary at $88,000 a year, according to Careercast.
Here’s a complete look at the best and worst jobs. And, take a look at the most stressful jobs. You may be surprised.
Best Jobs Worst Jobs Most Stressful Jobs
Software Engineer Lumberjack Enlisted Soldier
Actuary Dairy Farmer Firefighter
Human Resources Manager Enlisted Military Soldier Airline Pilot
Dental Hygienist Oil Rig Worker Military General
Financial Planner Reporter (Newspaper) Police Officer
Audiologist Waiter/Waitress Event Coordinator
Occupational Therapist Meter Reader Public Relations Executive
Online Advertising Manager Dishwasher Corporate Executive Computer Systems Analyst Butcher Photojournalist
Mathematician Broadcaster Taxi DriverWho might be most interested in the passage?
| A．Job-hunters. | B．Net surfers. |
| C．Employers. | D．Educators. |
Which of the following was not considered when Careercast.com ranked the top 200 jobs?
| A．Hiring outlook. | B．Pressure. |
| C．Mental demands. | D．Salary. |
What do we know about the lumberjack?
| A．Although the lumberjack has high unemployment, it isn’t considered the worst job. |
| B．On the best jobs list, the lumberjack isn’t at the bottom. |
| C．More lumberjacks’ services will be needed after 2016. |
| D．A lumberjack earns less than half of a software engineer’s salary a year. |
According to the passage, the list is good news for ______.
| A．Online Advertising Managers. | B．Reporters. |
| C．Firefighters. | D．Dairy Farmers. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To describe the advantages of different careers. |
| B．To provide career information. |
| C．To explain why a software engineer is the best job. |
| D．To analyze why a lumberjack is the worst job. |
根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
You slowly open your eyes. Ah, another beautiful morning. You think to yourself, "It's great not to have anything to worry about". OH NO! Today is exam day and you haven’t studied enough!How can you deal with the mountains of stress that exams seem to create? Read on to find out some useful study tips to prepare for exams:
Get into a routine
If you get started early enough before your exams, you will find you don’t need to put in any all-nighters. Find the time of the day that you study the best. Pick a couple of hours and stick to this study time. Get to know how you learn the best.
Plan ahead
Planning ahead is the best way to maximize your chances of good grades. You may have only limited time to study. Ask your teachers to help you make a list of the most important topics to study. If you stick to a schedule, it will start to seem manageable.
Look after yourself
Fresh fruit and vegetables will give you reserves of energy and increase your ability to concentrate. Don't stay awake all night trying to study. Wind down after study and try some relaxation exercises. Having regular exercise will keep your mind active.
Assistance and resources
Your teachers will usually be more than happy to meet with you outside of class times. Make appointments to meet with them regularly. Don't waste their time, however. Plan what you want to discuss and have some questions written down. Practise on past exam papers, but don't rely only on them. There is no such thing as a short cut when it comes to exams.
| A. This is the same mistake you always make. B. How can you avoid a situation like this? C. In this case you need to make a schedule. D. So you can make the best of your spare time. E. It can also prevent your concentration from dropping. F. Perhaps studying on the bed or outside is better for you. G. You should also make use of all the other available resources. |