Belowisadiscussiononawebsite.h-优题课

E
Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers urged, "Barbara, be enthusiastic! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience." How right they were! Enthusiastic people can turn a boring drive into an adventure, extra work into opportunity and strangers into friends.
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is the paste that helps you hang in there when the going gets tough. It is the inner voice that whispers, "I can do it!" when others shout, "No, you can't!" It took years and years for the early work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist（遗传学家）who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn't let up on her experiments. Work was such a deep pleasure for her that she never thought of stopping.
We are all born with wide-eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is this childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such a youthful air, whatever their age. At 90, cellist Pablo Casals would start his day by playing Bach（巴赫）. As the music flowed through his fingers, his bent shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes. As author and poet Samuel once wrote, "Years wrinkle（使生皱纹）the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."
Enthusiastic people also love what they do, regardless of money, title or power. Patricia Mallrath, retired director of the Missouri Repertory Theater in Kansas City, was once asked where she got her enthusiasm. She replied, "My father, a lawyer, long ago told me, I never made a penny until I stopped working for money."
If we cannot do what we love as a full-time career, we can do it as a hobby. Elizabeth Layton of Wellsville, Kan, was 68 before she began to draw. This activity ended her depression（抑郁）that had troubled her for at least 30 years, and the quality of her work led one critic to say, "I am persuaded to call Layton a genius."
We can't afford to waste tears on "might-have-beens". We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after "what-can-be." We need to live each moment whole-heartedly, with all our senses-finding pleasure in the sweet smell of a backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, and the beauty of a rainbow.
67. Which of the following can best explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?
A. Enthusiasm can give you courage and strength in difficult times.
B. If you don't have enthusiasm, you can achieve nothing.
C. Enthusiastic people never consider money and fame.
D. Enthusiastic people can gain great fame and honor.
68. The author mentions cellist Pablo Casals in the third paragraph to show that ________.
A. music can arouse people's enthusiasm
B. enthusiasm can give people inspiration needed to succeed
C. enthusiasm can make people feel young
D. enthusiasm can keep people healthy
69. How many examples are given in the passage to show the importance of enthusiasm?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
70. The author holds the view that ________.
A. enthusiastic people will never get old
B. enthusiasm can make you succeed and enjoy life
C. enthusiasm is more important than experience
D. enthusiasm can give people more success and fame

D
A peer is a person who is about the same age as you. Peers affect your life, whether you know it or not, just by spending time with you.
Peers can have a good effect on one another. Maybe another student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember the planets in solar system. Maybe you got others excited about your new favorite book and now everyone's reading it.
However, sometimes peers affect one another in another way. For example, one kid in school might try to get another to cut class with him, your soccer friend might try to persuade you to be mean to another player and never pass her the ball, or a kid in the neighborhood might want you to shoplift with him. Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, to fit in, or because they worry that other kids may make fun of them if they don't go along with the group. Others may go along because they are curious to try something new that others are doing. The idea that "everyone's doing it" may influence some kids to leave their better judgments or their common senses behind.
Peer pressure can be extremely strong and hard to get rid of. Experiments have shown how peer pressure can influence someone to change her/ his mind from what she/ he knows for sure is a correct answer to the incorrect answer－just because everyone else gives the incorrect answer! That holds true for people of any age in peer pressure situations.
It can be hard to walk away from peer pressure, but it can be done. Paying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do. Inner strength and self-confidence can help you stand firm, walk away and resist doing something when you know better.
63. What is the best title for this passage?
A. Peers have a good effect B. Children give in to peer pressure
C. Peer pressure is hard to resist D. Peer pressure
64. The underlined word "shoplift" in Paragraph 3 probably means "________".
A. do some shopping B. carry goods for shops
C. steal in shops D. take the lift upstairs in shops
65. The writer will NOT agree that ________.
A. only children change their correct answers to incorrect ones because of peer pressure
B. peers have an effect on one another
C. Peer pressure can be got rid of
D. Peers will believe in themselves if there are other peers who agree with them
66. By writing the passage the writer intends to ________.
A. tell people to follow other's opinions
B. warn people to stay away from their peers
C. tell it is hard to walk away from pressure
D. persuade people to do the right thing regardless of peer pressure

C
Educating girls quite possibly brings in a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Women education may be an unusual field for economists, but increasing women's contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics provides guideposts that point to an explanation for why so many girls are deprived（被剥夺） of an education.
Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else's family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school-the prophecy （预言） becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a bad circle of neglect.
An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The bad circle is thus transformed into a good one.
Few will question that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 percent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant effect on health practices, including family planning.
59. By saying "the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling..." in Paragraph 2, the author means that ________.
A. girls will turn out to be less valuable than boys
B. girls will be capable of realizing their own dreams
C. girls will eventually find their goals in life beyond reach
D. girls will be increasingly discontented with their life at home
60. The author believes that a bad circle can turn into a good circle when ________.
A. women care more about education
B. girls can gain equal access to education
C. a family has fewer but healthier children
D. parents can afford their daughters' education
61. What does the author say about women' s education?
A. It deserves greater attention than other social issues.
B. It is now given attention before anything else in many developing countries.
C. It will bring in greater returns than other known investments
D. It has aroused the interest of a growing number of economists.
62. The passage mainly discusses________.
A. unequal treatment of boys and girls in developing countries
B. the potential earning power of well-educated women
C. the major contributions of educated women to society
D. the economic and social benefits of educating women

B
Although we already know a great deal about flu, and although the World Health Organizations is constantly collecting detailed information from its chain of flu reference laboratories throughout the world, it is extremely difficult for epidemiologists, who study infectious diseases, to predict when and where the next flu epidemic will occur, and how serious it will be.
There are three kinds of flu virus, known as A, B and C. flu C virus is relatively stable and causes mild infections that do not spread far through the population. The A and B types are unstable, and are responsible for the epidemics that cause frequent concern. Following any virus attack, the human body builds up antibodies （抗体） which can be changed into immunity to that type of virus but a virus with the ability to change its character is able to bypass this protection. Variability（可变性） is less developed in the flu B virus, which affects only human beings. As flu B virus may cause a widespread epidemic but will have little effect if introduced into the same community soon afterwards, since nearly everyone will have built up antibodies and will be immune. The flu A virus, which affects animals also, is extremely unstable and is responsible for some of the worst outbreaks of the disease, such as the world epidemic, of 1918&1919, when about half the world's population were infected and about twenty million people died, some from pneumonia caused by the virus itself and some from secondary complication caused by bacteria. Accurate prediction is difficult because of the complication of the factors. A particular virus may be related to one to which some of the population have partial involved immunity. The extent to which it will spread will depend on factors such as its own strength, or virulence （病毒性）, the ease with which it can be transmitted and the strength of the opposition it encounters （遇到）. Scientists, however, have a reliable general picture of the world situation.
55. Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage?
A. Symptoms of Flu B. Man Vs Flu Virus
C. WHO: The Major Organization against Flu Virus D. Variability of Flu Virus
56. What does the author say about the flu B virus?
A. B Virus is relatively stable and causes mild infections that do not spread far through the population.
B. B Virus is unstable, and is responsible for the epidemics that cause frequent concern.
C. B virus is extremely unstable and is responsible for some of the worst outbreaks of the disease.
D. B virus has a very developed variability, and it affects only human beings.
57. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a factor contributing to the extent to which a virus spreads?
A. The strength of the virus. B. The ease with which the virus can be transmitted.
C. The strength of the opposition. D. The immunity the virus can bring about.
58. This article is quite probably ________.
A. a piece of news B. a special science report
C. an introduction to a book D. a scientific fiction

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer's hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery （火红的） ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.
The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this was what she needed. "It's getting late," she thought, "I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am."
She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.
It was really getting dark now. The sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold too. She wished she had her favorite sweater on: it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... It all seemed deserted. She couldn't understand what was going on.
She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said: "Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking." Ellen was her mother but - where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents' room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn't slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different... she wasn't in her mother's room and she wasn't wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas （睡衣）.
It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, "Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared."
51. Three days later Jennifer came back home ________.
A. at sunrise B. at sunset C. at night D. at midday
52. The underlined part in Paragraph 4 most probably means "________".
A. The idea of going back home. B. Her anxiety about her parents.
C. The feeling of being warm in her favorite sweater.D. The feeling of getting back home safely.
53. Her father didn't take care of the garden because ________.
A. he was busy looking for her B. he had to look after his wife
C. he was not strict with his job D. he no longer enjoyed working in the garden
54. What can we infer from this passage?
A. In fact Jennifer's mother had been sick for days.
B. As Jennifer walked towards home, she became increasingly scared.
C. When she found the garden deserted, she realized she was wrong.
D. Having experienced a lot outside, Jennifer felt home was safest for her.

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Stuck on a desert island?
Started on 23^rd April by Steve Posts 1 – 7 of 42
Post 1 Steve USA	Hi, everyone. What would you miss most and least if you were stuck on a desert island? For me, it would be the changing seasons in New England. I guess this will sound stupid but I’d probably miss the rain, too. I wouldn’t miss getting up at six every day to go to work, though! What about you?
Post 2 Tomas Germany	Good question. Steve, I think I’d miss different types of bread, and shopping at the supermarket. I’d miss the food most. What would I miss least? My mobile phone---I’d like to be completely quiet --- at least for a little while
Post 3 Paola Italy	I would miss the company of people because I know I’d like to have someone to share experiences with. I’d go mad on my own. And I sure wouldn’t miss junk mail(垃圾邮件) --- I hate coming home every evening and a pile of junk mail in my post box.
Post 4 Miko Japan	Hi, I would miss Manga cartoon, the internet and Japanese food, like sushi. I’d also miss TV shows and shopping for clothes… In fact, I’d miss everything.
Post 5 Roger UK	I would miss my daily newspaper and listening to the news on TV and radio. I’d feel very cut off if I didn’t know what was happening in the world. What I’d miss least would be traffic jams in the city, particularly my journey to work.
Post 6 Jayne	Why hasn’t anyone mentioned their family? I’d be lost without my husband and two kids. They’re the most important for me. And I can’t get started in the morning without a cup of black coffee. I wouldn’t miss doing the housework!
Post 7 Jaime Mexico	It would have to be music. I couldn’t live without my music. I wouldn’t miss going to school at all or doing homework!