Learning English is one of the few things I have been doing consistently over the past 16 years. Like most Chinese students, I started learning English because it was a compulsory (必修的) course in my middle school. More importantly, English was a central subject for the college entrance exam.
At that time , studying English was not a pleasant experience for me . There was no fun in the process of learning . The focus of our English education was getting a good mark in exams . And nobody told me that the real meaning of studying mother language was communication.
When I became a university student , I spent nearly half of my time on English . In fact , more than 90 percent of the job offer ads in Shanghai list “ proficiency (精通) as a main requirement.
How did I improve my English ? People told me that TOEFL was very helpful and useful. As a result, I took a TOEFL training course and studied like mad. After six months’ preparation, I took part in the exam and got a high score . Later on , I had a chance to further my study in Britain . I soon discovered that all of my past English learning had been futile (没用的) . When I first went shopping in a local supermarket , I really could not understand what the cashier was saying at all.
It was then that I realized I had totally missed the point . Instead of just passing exams , the main function of learning English or any other language is communication . What is more , lanuage does not exist independent of culture. Hence , mechanical memorization helps very little in communication. That’s why I was still unable to freely express myself after learning English for many years . By no means am I talented in any foreign language . I am still learing English . Why ?
First and foremost , my job requires me to use English everyday . Secondly , English helps me to have access to more information . Thirdly , as a bookworm , English gives me a chance to dive into the huge pool of inspiring English books . Last but not least , it is such a great experience to write in another language . Indeed , English has become part of my life . How did the writer find English when he was a student?
| A．He was interested in it . |
| B．He studied it because it was compulsory course. |
| C．He thought it funny to study English. |
| D．He often recited something when he studied English. |
What is the purpose of studying English according to the writer’s idea ?
| A．To get high marks in exams. |
| B．To prove that Englsih is very important. |
| C．Studying Eglish well can ehlp you get a good job. |
| D．To use English for communication with others. |
According to the text , how is my English ?
| A．I am good at English. |
| B．I can speak Englsih like natives. |
| C．I can master it but I can’t use it correctly. |
| D．I continued to study Englsih. |
How can we master Englsih well ？
| A．We need more mechanical memorization. |
| B．We should read and recite more books. |
| C．We should study Englsih as well as its culture and use it more . |
| D．We can study hard in classrooms and houses and get high marks in exams . |
I would never forget the time when we were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.
“Look down, Elsa，” Father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the crisscross (纵横交错) of streets leading to the square. “See, my dear，” Father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can't get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”
Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she didn't believe the lunches were as bad as I said.
When I turned to Father for help, he would not interfere (干涉). Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.
At school the next day, I secretly poured my lunch soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I asked our cook to serve it to Mother at dinner. The plan worked perfectly. She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered, “The cook must have gone bad！” Quickly I told what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would deal with the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the following years I often remembered the lesson Father taught me. I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago. I wouldn't stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal. Father's wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square.The author's father took her to the top of a church tower to ________.
| A．find out how many ways lead to the square |
| B．enjoy the beautiful scenery of the whole town |
| C．help her forget some unpleasant things earlier that day |
| D．inspire her to find out another way to solve her problem |
What did the author want her mother to do earlier that day?
| A．Do something delicious for lunch. |
| B．Speak to the school about lunch. |
| C．Taste her awful lunch. |
| D．Dismiss the cook. |
The underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph means ________.
| A．the cook agreed to serve the soup to Mother |
| B．the matter of lunch was successfully settled |
| C．her father persuaded her mother successfully |
| D．the method the author thought of was effective |
On a freezing cold day, a couple had to move into a small apartment because of their failure in business. The husband worked day and night to support the family but with no care of his wife. So she thought, “He doesn't love me any more, he just cares about his business ... not me”．
One day, she was about to take a shower when he stopped her at the door, “Let me take it first, okay？”“Why not me first？” she asked.“I am tired, honey, you take it later, okay？”She was entirely unhappy.
One day, she found nothing to do and turned on his computer. A few words came into her sight. Reading them, she burst into tears. It was his diary：
Today, I was quite sad. She asked me why I was always taking the shower first, and I said to her, I was exhausted. She was unhappy. In her mind, I treated her not as well as usual, but what could I do? I was not as rich as before! We moved to the small apartment, and there was only one shower in the bathroom. It was so cold to take a shower in such a cold winter. But I found that if one person took the shower first, the room could get a little warmer. So every day I rushed to the bathroom first. I was thinking that, when she took the shower, the room would get warmer, even if it was only 1℃.
Now I cannot give her a comfortable life, take her to good restaurants, or buy expensive dresses for her, but at least, I can give her 1℃love.Why did the couple move to the small apartment?
| A．Both of them were out of work. |
| B．They wanted to live a better life. |
| C．The man could take better care of his business. |
| D．They were too poor to live in the former house. |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word “exhausted”？
| A．Devoted. | B．Worried. |
| C．Tired. | D．Injured. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．They would live a richer life soon. |
| B．The woman misunderstood her husband. |
| C．The man would care less about his business. |
| D．The woman would get angry after reading the diary. |
What's the best title of the passage?
| A．A Love Story | B．1℃Love |
| C．A Suffering Couple | D．Fight for the Bathroom |
A man enters a store to buy milk. He walks out of the store with milk. That is all— milk. At the same time, a woman enters the same grocery store also to buy milk. She buys it. But, she also buys chicken and lemons to make dinner that night. Then she remembers to buy food for her son to eat at school. She also gets a bottle of wine for drinks with friends and a birthday card for her husband's niece. Then she gets coffee for breakfast, ice cream for dessert and remembers stamps to mail the bills. And don't forget soap for the bathroom.
And that is the difference between the female and male brains simply explained in a grocery store. Generally speaking，men do one thing at a time. Women do many. Doing many things at one time is often called “multi-tasking”, a very popular word these days.
Now scientific research supports this theory about male and female brains. A recent study has confirmed what we have known all along—men and women think differently.
Scientist at the university of Pennsylvania studied brain images of 949 people aged from 8 to 22 years old. They found that male brains have more connections on one side of the brain, or hemisphere. In female brain, they found more activity and connections between the right and left sides of the brain. The left side of the brain is known as the side of “reason” The right hemisphere is known as the “creative” side.
Regina Verma is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-wrote the report. She says when women are asked to do something difficult they might use different parts of the brain. Men, she adds, generally use just one side of the brain.
As a result, men generally deal directly with a problem. There is a strong connection between the “understanding” and the “action” parts of their brains. Women, however, might include other parts of the brain, like the part connected with reason and the part connected with sensitivity when solving a problem. Women take a less direct path to find a solution.
Dr. Venma warns that the study should not lead anyone to expect some behaviors from women and others from men.By describing the scene of shopping, the writer wants to ____ .
| A．reveal men and women's preference of living expense |
| B．criticize women's wasted living expense |
| C．think highly of women's considerate behavior |
| D．illustrate men and women's different brains |
When asked to deal with a problem, _____ .
| A．men tend to take action straight |
| B．women tend to take action straight |
| C．women tend to use a single part of the brain |
| D．men tend to use connected parts of the brain |
Dr. Verma's warning indicates that _____ .
| A．women and men can hardly learn from each other |
| B．women and men can hardly cooperate well |
| C．women and men can hardly complete multitasks |
| D．women and men can hardly perform the same behavior |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．“reason” brain or “creative” brain |
| B．Multi-tasking or single-tasking |
| C．Costly shopping or economical shopping |
| D．Reason or sensitivity |
If you’d like to go sightseeing, the following World Heritage Sites may be your best choices.
Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area
The Jiuzhaigou Valley, which lies in the northern part of Sichuan Province, reaches a height of more than 4,800 meters, with a series of different forest ecosystems（生态系统）. There you can enjoy watching excellent waterfalls. Some 140 kinds of birds also live in the valley, as well as a number of endangered plants and animals, including the giant panda. For more information, please visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/637.
Khami Ruins National Monument
The city of Khami, which developed after the capital of Great Zimbabwe had been given up in the mid-16th century, is of great archaeological（考古的）interest. The discovery of objects from Europe and China shows that Khami was a major centre for trade over a long period of time. For more information, please visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/365.
Henderson Island
Henderson Island, which lies in the eastern South Pacific, is one of the few atolls（环礁）in the world whose ecology（生态）has not been touched by human beings. It is especially famous for the ten plants and four land birds that can only be seen on the island. For more information, please visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/487.
The Old City of Jerusalem
As a holy city for three different religions in the Middle East, Jerusalem has always been of great religious importance. It was given a World Heritage Status in 1981 and placed on the “List of World Heritage in Danger” the following year. For more information, please visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/148.What can we know about the Jiuzhaigou Valley?
| A．It sits at the foot of a 4,800-meter-high mountain. |
| B．It has different forest ecosystems. |
| C．Few of China’s endangered plants can be found there. |
| D．In all about 140 kinds of birds and animals live there. |
The discovery of some of the objects in Khami shows that the city .
| A．had a very short history |
| B．was ruined in the mid-16th century |
| C．was once Great Zimbabwe’s largest city |
| D．once played a great role as a trade center |
From the passage we can learn that Henderson Island .
| A．hasn’t been greatly influenced by human activities |
| B．isn’t suitable for humans to live on |
| C．has been open to visitors for years |
| D．is made up of a few large atolls |
If you are interested in religion, you should visit .
| A．http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/148 |
| B．http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/365 |
| C．http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/487 |
| D．http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/637 |
A new word has suddenly become wildly popular in China —"tuhao" — which loosely translated means "nouveau riche". There have been more than 100 million references to the word "tuhao" on social media since early September.
It's being used to describe everything from the new People's Daily building, to expensive celebrity weddings full of bling, and the new gold-coloured iPhone.
In Chinese "tu" means earth and "hao" means rich. To say someone is tuhao is to imply they come from a poor peasant background, and have made it rich quick — but don't quite have the manners, or sophistication to go along with it. It's like the term "nouveau riche", says Professor Steve Tsang at the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies in Nottingham - but has even more negative meanings, suggesting a certain vulgarity(粗俗).
"Tuhao" is actually an old word, dating back perhaps as far as the Southern Dynasty 1,500 years ago,but it has always meant something rather different. During the communist revolution, from the 1920s to early 1950s, it was widely used to refer to landholders and gentry who would bully those beneath them.
This new usage of the term took off in September after a widely-shared joke about a rich, but unhappy man, who goes to a Buddhist monk for advice, expecting to be told to live a more simple life. The monk replies instead with the phrase: "Tuhao, let's be friends!"
Chinese Internet users are highly creative in their use of language, and are constantly inventing, and re-inventing words as a way of getting past censorship(审查) rules. But in this case, its popularity seems to be down to the fact that it expresses China's changing society so well — many people sneer at those with wealth, but are secretly jealous.What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Tuhao, a new popular word in China |
| B．The long history of Tuhao |
| C．The new usage of Tuhao |
| D．Tuhao, a newly-invented Chinese word |
Which of the following may NOT be considered “tuhao”?
| A．A vulgar nouveau riche |
| B．A bully landholder |
| C．A quick-rich peasant without proper manners |
| D．A Buddhist monk. |
The last but one paragraph mainly tells us ______.
| A．what the new usage of the word is |
| B．how the word becomes popular again |
| C．why the unhappy man went to the Buddhist monk |
| D．what advice the monk gave the unhappy man |
What does the underlined word in the last paragraph mean?
| A．respect | B．envy |
| C．laugh | D．disbelieve |