Sicily, an island of Italy, is home to beautiful beaches, outstanding food, and a bit of Italian history on every corner. It’s located just southwest of the Italian mainland and it’s the largest Mediterranean island.
Invaded(侵略)by many armies over the centuries, it became the site of Roman and Greek colonies. Those cultures remain to this day.
Although they have a rich culture and history, Sicilian people lead a simple life. Living on land with fertile(肥沃的) soil, most of them work in agriculture, fishing and mining, and of course tourism.
In Sicily, most stores and businesses are closed from one to four in the afternoon. Street become crowded around five as people start to go out and engage in a variety of activities. They may take a walk to the shops, enjoy a pastry(糕点)or just meet up with friends.
Food is one of the great pleasures of Sicilian people. There is an old Sicilian saying：“With a contented stomach, your heart is forgiving. With an empty stomach you forgive nothing.” People will go miles out their way to eat fresh seafood. Pasta(意大利面)is the main food Each region has its seasonal pasta dishes, and every family cook their own specialty. Bread is common too. As another Sicilian saying goes, “A table without bread is like a day without sunshine.” In Sicily, bread is always freshly baked or bought, and usually twice a day. Invaders from Rome and Greece came to Sicily______.
| A．by bike | B．by ship | C．on foot | D．by train |
The underlined sentences mean Sicilian people______.
| A．can always forgive other’s mistakes |
| B．can’t stand going hungry |
| C．like eating |
| D．may make mistakes when they are hungry |
According the author, Pasta changes with______.
| A．weather | B．age | C．social position | D．season |
The best title of this passage might be______.
| A．Sicily—an Island of Italy |
| B．Sicily—the Site of Roman and Greek Colonies |
| C．Italy’s most Beautiful Island |
| D．SiTALY’S Tasty Island Culture |
People Born in Autumn Live Longer
People born in the autumn live longer than those born in the spring and are less likely to fall chronically ill when they are older, according to an Austrian scientist.
Using census（人口普查）data for more than one million people in Austria, Denmark and Australia, scientists at the Max Planck Institute in the northern German town of Rostock found the month of birth was related to life expectancy（预期寿命）over the age of 50. Seasonal differences in what mothers ate during pregnancy, and infections occurring at different times of the year could both have an impact on the health of a new-born baby and could influence its life expectancy in older age. “A mother giving birth in spring spends the last phase of her pregnancy in winter, when she will eat less vitamins than in summer,” said Gabriele Doblhammer, one of a team of scientists who carried out the research. “When she stops breast-feeding and starts giving her baby normal food, it’s in the hot weeks of summer when babies are prone (易于)to infections of the digestive system.” In Austria, adults born in autumn (October-December) lived about seven months longer than those born in spring (April-June), and in Denmark adults with birthdays in autumn outlived those born in spring by about four months. In the southern hemisphere, the picture was similar. Adults born in the Australian autumn—the European spring—lived about four months longer than those born in the Australian spring. The study focused on people born at the beginning of the 20th century, using death certificates and census data. Although nutrition at all times of the year has improved since then, the seasonal pattern persists, Doblhammer said.
But on the other hand, according to a study of more 40,000 people, those born in spring and summer report themselves luckier than those born in autumn or winter. Professor Richard Wise-man who led the research explained that the temperature at the time of birth might influence the development of the brain and seasonal factors make a difference as well.The underlined word “outlived” in the text probably means ________.
| A．lived out of | B．depended on |
| C．had a shorter life than | D．lived longer than |
The census data of the following countries is used for research EXCEPT _______.
| A．Germany. | B．Denmark. |
| C．Australia. | D．Austria. |
What’s the main idea of this text?
| A．Nutrition at all times of the year has improved since the beginning of the 20th century. |
| B．In Austria, adults born in autumn (October—December) lived about seven months longer than those born in spring (April—June). |
| C．People born in autumn live longer than those born in spring and are less likely to fall ill when they are older. |
| D．Babies are prone to infections of the digestive system. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?
| A．Infections occurring at different times of the year influence the health of a new-born baby. |
| B．The study focused on people born in the late 20th century. |
| C．A mother giving birth in spring eats less vitamins during the last phase of her pregnancy in winter. |
| D．What mothers ate during pregnancy could have an impact on the babies’ life expectancy in older age. |
The right sentence of the following is ________.
| A．The month of birth was not related to life expectancy over the age of 50. |
| B．A mother giving birth in spring spends the last phase of her pregnancy in winter, eating more vitamins than in summer. |
| C．Stopping breast-feeding and starting giving babies normal food must make babies prone to get infected with the digestive system in the hot weeks of summer. |
| D．Adults born in the Australian autumn―the European spring―lived about four months longer than those born in the Australian spring. |
In American schools, computers have done many of the jobs that teachers used to do. Computers ask students questions. If the students give the right answer, the computer will say “Wonderful!” Some computers even read stories aloud to students. Students can do experiments on their computers and can do homework on floppy disks（软盘）.
Both students and teachers are crazy about computers. “With computers, students get help quickly,” said one teacher. “But if the students don’t have computers, they must wait for me to walk around and get to them.”
“I can type faster than I can write,” said a student. “Using a computer is easier than using an eraser.”
Computers are also very patient. A teacher may become angry at a student sometimes. But computers are always calm. When a student gives the wrong answer, the computer just says, “Please try again.”
Companies that make software for school have a difficult job. They must make the software as interesting as the programs that students watch on TV. But they have made much success, because students like computers as much as teachers do.If a student gives a wrong answer, a computer might say, “_________”.
| A．Wonderful | B．Please try again | C．Bad luck. | D．Use an eraser |
Students like computers because computers ________.
| A．are fast and interesting | B．are not patient |
| C．can do some experiments | D．can do homework for them |
Companies that make software for schools have a hard job because ________.
| A．they have to make the software very interesting | B．they have made little success |
| C．the students are interested in TV programmes | D．students don’t like computers |
According to the passage, computers can do the following things except _______.
| A．asking question | B．reading stories aloud |
| C．telling the students whether the answers are right. | |
| D．making TV programmes |
The main idea of the article is ________.
| A．students like computers better than TV |
| B．students like computers better than school |
| C．computers can do many jobs that teachers do for schools |
| D．computers are not good for school |
At five he was collecting old newspapers to make money. And when he was 15 he signed his schoolmates up to start a baby-sitting circle.
Now 20, third-year Cambridge University student, Peter Blackburn is managing director of a company with a £ 30,000 plan. And he thinks it will make more than $15,000 by next summer. He set up Peter Blackborn Ltd last year to bring out a new, color term-planner that now students all over the UK are using.
"I felt that most of the planners going around were pretty unimaginative," he says, "I believed that I could do a better job and decided to have a go".
Blackburn admits that he is putting far more effort into business than his computer studies course at university. While fellow students are out with their friends, he keeps in touch with his business office in Lancashire by movable phone. Before he set up the company he spent one holiday preparing a plan that would persuade his bank to lend him money.
"Most students work hard for a good degree because they believe that will help them get a job to support themselves," he says "I work hard at my company, because that is what will support me next year, after I leave college."
Friends believe that Blackburn will make £ 1 million within 5 years. He is not quite so sure, however. "There's a lot to be done yet," he says.Choose the right order of the facts given in the passage.
a. He spent his holiday preparing a plan.
b. He collected newspapers.
c. He set up his own company.
d. He asked the bank for money.
e. He set up a babysitting circle.
| A．e, b, c, a, d | B．b, e, a, d, c | C．b, e, d, a, c | D．b, e, c, a, d |
When he was quite young, Blackburn _______ .
| A．already made a lot of money | B．already had a business brain |
| C．was already managing director of a company | D．already set up his own business |
The underlined expression in the fourth paragraph "have a go," here means _______ .
| A．give up this job and have a new one | B．leave the company |
| C．have a try | D．develop my business quickly |
In spite of a college student, Blackburn _______ .
| A．spends more time on his business than on his studies course |
| B．keep in touch with his business office by movable phone |
| C．seldom goes out with his friends |
| D．often spends whole holiday preparing business plan |
Which of the following best explain why Blackburn works hard at his company?
| A．He wants to do more business practice before he leaves college. |
| B．He wants to make more money before he leaves college. |
| C．He wants to get a good job like most students after he leaves the college. |
| D．he depends on the company for his living in the future. |
A new weapon is on the way in the fight against smoking in Europe. Soon when smokers buy cigarettes, they might see a shocking photo of a blackened lung or a cancer patient staring back at them from the packet.
Some boys may think of smoking as cool and sexy. Their friends won’t agree when they see their packets of cigarettes lying on the table.
The European Union announced on October 22, that it had chosen 42 photos that showed the damage cigarettes could do to the body. It called on member nations to put these pictures on packets to discourage young smokers.
To catch the attention of teenagers, the special packets warn of long-term medical dangers, like cancer. Short-term effects, like bad skin, are also on the list.
“The true fact of smoking is disease, death and horror. That is the message we should send to the young,” said David Byrne, an EU health official. “Hopefully these pictures will shock students out of their love for cigarettes.”
The EU head office hoped the pictures would work better than current written warnings on packs of cigarettes. The warning included “smoking kills” and “smoking can lead to a slow and painful death.”
So far, Ireland and Belgium have shown interest in the photos. Canada has used similar pictures and warnings on cigarette packs since 2000. The country has recently seen a fall in the number of smokers.
According to studies, smoking is the single biggest cause of avoidable death in EU. Every year more than 650,000 smokers die, more than one person a minute. What would be the best title for the text?
| A．New Ways to Stop Smoking. | B．Pictures to Shock Smokers. |
| C．New Packers of Cigarettes. | D．Dangers of Smoking. |
Which of the following is NOT the true face of smoking?
| A．Disease. | B．Death. | C．Horror. | D．Happinese. |
We can learn from the test that _______.
| A．The EU countries have put the new warning method into practice |
| B．only a small number of the EU countries have used the new warning method |
| C．the new warning method has worked in some EU countries |
| D．countries in the EU still use the old warning method |
Which country is most successful in stopping smoking?
| A．Ireland. | B．Belgium. | C．Canada. | D．EU |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that ________.
| A．It’s hard to stop smoking in EU |
| B．deaths caused by smoking could have been avoided |
| C．smoking is the biggest cause of deaths in EU |
| D．EU has the largest number of deaths caused by smoking |
A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work..
He may have the idea that he is not capable of it. It is easy to get such an idea even though there is no justification for it. A child may think he is stupid because he does not understand how to take the most of his mental faculties, or he may accept another person s mistaken estimate of his ability. Older people may be handicapped by the mistaken belief that they are incapable of learning anything new because of their age.
A person who believes that he is incapable will not make a real effort, because he feels that it would be useless. He won’t go at a job with the confidence necessary for success, and he won’t work hardest, even though he may think he is doing so. He is therefore likely to fail, and the failure will strengthen his belief in his incompetence.
Alfred Adler, a famous psychiatrist（精神病医生）, had an experience which illustrates this. When he was a small boy he got off to a poor start in arithmetic. His teacher got the idea that he had no ability in arithmetic, and told his parents what she thought in order that they would not expect too much of him. In this way, they too developed the idea, "Isn’t it too bad that Alfred can’t do arithmetic?" He accepted their mistaken estimate of his ability, felt that it was useless to try, and was very poor at arithmetic, just as they expected.
One day he became very angry at the teacher and other students because they laughed when he said he saw how to do a problem which none of the other students had been able to solve.
Adler succeeded in solving a problem. This gave him confidence. He rejected the idea that he couldn’t do arithmetic and was determined to show them that he could. His anger and his new found confidence stimulated him to be at arithmetic problems with a new spirit. He now worked with interest, determination, and purpose, and he soon became extraordinarily good at arithmetic. He not only proved that he could do arithmetic, but he learned early in life from his own experience that , if a person goes at a job with determination and purpose, he may astonish himself as well as others by his ability.
This experience made him realize that many people have more ability than they think they have. And that lack of success is as often the result of lack of knowledge of how to apply one’s ability, lack of confidence, and lack of determination as it is the result of lack of ability.The underlined word “justification” most probably means ________.
| A．reason | B．rightness | C．need | D．demand |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．The basic principles in doing math problems. |
| B．Our idea about ourselves may have a negative influence on our work. |
| C．Our ideas do not always have and influence on us. |
| D．All actions are caused by impulse. |
What does Alfred Adler’s story tell us?
| A．Many people have more ability than they think they have. |
| B．Anybody can become a mathematician, if he has determination. |
| C．Arithmetic is actually very easy. |
| D．Most teachers are wrong when they evaluator their students. |
Why did he become angry one day?
| A．Because the teacher and other students laughed at him. |
| B．Because they challenged him to do a difficult arithmetic problem. |
| C．Because he couldn’t solve the arithmetic problem. |
| D．Because he was very poor at arithmetic. |
What idea did Alfred’s teacher have?
| A．He was slow in arithmetic. |
| B．He should work harder. |
| C．He should be transferred to a special school. |
| D．He should not tell his parents that he was slow. |