Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1750, the idea of skating didn't exist. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin's work was making musical instruments. In his spare time he liked to play the violin. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was astonished to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking to pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin's grand entrance for a long time!The text is mainly about_________.
A.a strange man |
B.an unusual party |
C.how roller skating began |
D.how people enjoyed themselves in the 18th century |
People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he________.
A.often gave others surprises | B.was a gifted musician |
C.invented the roller skates | D.was full of imagination |
Merlin put wheels under his shoes in order to_______.
A.impress the party guests | B.arrive at the party sooner |
C.test his invention | D.show his skill in walking on wheels |
What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?
A.The roller skates needed further improvement. |
B.The party guests took Merlin for a fool. |
C.Merlin succeeded beyond expectation. |
D.Merlin got himself into trouble. |
Football is, I believe, the most popular game in England: one has only to go to the important matches to see this. Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting for one side or the other.
To a stranger, one of the most surprising things about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams. He will tell you who he expects will win such a match, and his opinion is usually as good as that of men three or four times his age.
Most schools in England take football seriously-much more seriously than nearly all European schools, where lessons are all very important and games are left for the children themselves. In England it is believed that education is not only a matter filling a boy’s mind with facts in the classroom: education also means the training of character; and one of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially team games; where a boy or girl has to learn to work with others for his or her team, instead of working for oneself alone. The school therefore plans games and matches for its students. Football is a good team game. It is good both for the body and the mind. That’s why it is every school’s game in England.
67. In passage 1, by “this” the author means ________.
A. people often go to football games.
B. people, rich and poor, young and old, play football
C. football is the most popular game in England
D. people usually shout at each other in a football match
68. In England school boys seem _________ about football games.
A. not to know much B. to know a great deal
C. know little D. know nothing
69. In England, a boy’s opinion of a match is often ________.
A. three or four times better than that of adults
B. worse than that of adults
C. as good as that of adults
D. worth considering three or four times than adults
70. In almost all European schools, lessons are_______.
A. left for the children themselves
B. what the children like best
C. as important as football games
D. considered the most important
71. In England, education means_______.
A. filling a boy’s mind with stories
B. more than the teaching of knowledge
C. the teaching of knowledge only
D. training character by means of football games
An allowance is an important tool for teaching kids how to budget, save and make their own decisions. Children remember and learn from mistakes when their own dollars are lost or spent foolishly.
How large an allowance is appropriate? Experts say there is not right amount. Actual amounts differ from region to region, and from family to family.
To set an appropriate allowance for your child, work up a weekly budget. Allow for entertainment expenditures such as movies and snacks. Next, include everyday expenses such as lunch money, bus fare, school supplies. "If you make the child responsible for these ‘ ills’," says Josephine Swanson, a consumer specialist, " he or she will learn to budget for necessary expenditures."
Finally, add some extra money to make saving possible. If you can, keep your child’s allowance in line with that of his friends. A child whose purchasing power falls away below his peers’ can feel left out.
It can be tough, but avoid excusing your children when they make a mistake with their allowance. When Brooke Stephens was ten and growing up in Jacksonville, her mother gave her $5 a week, $1.75 of which was for bus fare and lunch." If you lose your money," Brooke’s mother told her, "you walk home."
One week the girl spent all her allowance in a candy store, then she called home for a ride. " Mom made me walk home," recalls Stephens, now a financial planner in Brooklyn. " At first I was angry. But I finally realized that she was trying to teach me an important lesson. "
Experts advise that an allowance should not be tied directly to a child’s daily chores. Kids should help around the house not because they get paid for it but because they share responsibilities as members of a family. You might, however, pay a child for doing extra jobs at home, which can develop his or her initiative.
63. Which of the following is the possible title of the passage?
A. How to develop a child’s initiative.
B. How to work up an amount of pocket money.
C. How to teach a child to save money.
D. How to teach a child about money.
64. It can be inferred from the passage that if a child is given an allowance, he or she may ________.
A. spend all the money very soon
B. be spoiled and finally ruined
C. feel responsible and careful about money
D. lost the money and can not return home
65. In Paragraph 4, the words “his peers” refer to ________.
A. his parents B. his teachers C. his financial experts D. his friends
66. The author implies in the passage that ________.
A. paying children for their housework is no good
B. a child’s initiative can be developed if he or she is paid for all the housework
C. children may feel lost and lonely if they have no pocket money
D. children may learn to put aside some money if they are given a great amount of pocket money
Advertising can be a service to the customer. This is true when advertisements give reliable information about the goods advertised. Such information is needed if the customer is to make a sensible choice when he buys. It is useful in that it lets him know of the kinds of goods in the shops. Printed advertisements do this job best. Customers can collect them and compare them. They can be taken along to shops and their claims can be checked against the actual goods in the shops.
However, some advertisements are not very useful to the customer. Instead of helping him to satisfy his real needs, they set out to make him want things. They set out to create a need. These advertisements are cleverly done. The people who produce them understand our weaknesses. They set out to make us believe that what they advertise will make us cleverer, prettier and more handsome, if only we use it. Actually, it is our money they are after and we should be on guard.
Some advertisements mislead customers by using part of the truth to suggest something false, and it is skillfully made to give that idea to the careless reader, listener or viewer.
At its best advertising can be useful to the customer. At its worst it can mislead him. Many newspapers check on the goods for which the advertisements made claims. Most newspapers are very careful about the small advertisements, which try to sell goods directly to the readers by post. Many newspapers print information about this on their small advertisement pages. Advertising has become a very big business, and good firms in it do all they can to make sure it is conducted with some attention to truth. This is a help to the customer. But the best way is for customers to be on the lookout.
59. It can be inferred from the passage that advertisements can be useful if they ________.
A. how a long list of the goods advertised
B. give true information about goods
C. tell customers what to buy
D. appear on TV and in newspapers at the same time
60. Advertisements that play on our weaknesses make us ________.
A. desire things we do not need B. purchase the goods we need
C. attracted by them D. become loyal reader, listener or viewer
61. according to the text, which of the following is TRUE?
A. All advertising firms do not care to tell the truth about the goods they advertise.
B. All advertising firms only care to make money, as advertising is a big business.
C. Most advertising firms make sure that advertisements do not purposely cheat.
D. The advertised goods are often of poor quality.
62. The underlined word "They" refers to ________.
A. Goods B. Customers C. Shops D. Advertisements
第四节阅读理解(20×2分)
James Langston Hughes finally arrived in New York on September 4, 1921 to attend Colombia University. Langston felt frustrated at Colombia due to the discrimination of his white classmates. His grades began to suffer and finally he left and looked for a job.
Job were still hard to come by for most blacks. He longed to work on a ship that would sail abroad. After much persistence, he headed to Africa on a freighter ( 货船 ). Hughes was disturbed by the African tribes’ lack of political and economical freedom. The Africans considered him white because of his brown skin and stranded dark hair. It was here that he met a mulatto (白黑混血)child who was ignored by the Africans and the whites. This was a sourced of inspiration for his play, “Mulatto”.
Hughes found work on another freighter and ended up in Pairs. While there he worked at a night club that featured southern cooking and jazz performers. While moving on to Italy, Hughed was robbed and left stranded (helpless) wanting to return to the United States. He tried to get a job on a ship heading for the U.S.A. but was told they only hired the white. In this depressed state of mind he wrote, “I, Too, Sing America.”
He returned to America and found the Harlem Renaissance was spreading across racial boundaries(种族界线). Many black poets and authors were now published in mainstream publications. Hughes was warmly welcomed by his peers (同辈)and recognized for the poetry he wrote while traveling.
56. What inspired James Hughes to white the play “Mulatto”?
A. Neither the African nor the whites took care of a mulatto child he met.
B. The African did not like white people.
C. Blacks found it hard to find a decent job.
D. There was no political nor economical freedom in Africa.
57. How did Hughes pay for his trip from Africa to Paris?
A. He sold his poems.B. He got a job on ship.
C. He worked for a night club. D. His African friends gave him some money. 58 . What happened to Hughes at Colombia University?
A. His white classmates were kind and helpful to him.
B. He was recognized as a promising poet.
C. He graduated with honors.
D. He was very disappointed.
In recent weeks , small groups of young people appeared on downtown sidewalks in Changsha, Beijing and other cities , holding signs with the words "free hugs ,and offered embraces to any passer-by who would care for one. "
Calling themselves " the hug league" ,they said they were inspired an international news story of a similar type and intended to promote human contact in the face of growing alienation(疏远)in urban china.
We Chinese ,contrary to what is shown in our love movies and television shows , rarely run into each other's arms and cry our hearts out .We are raised in a culture of emotional restraint(克制)。We mark our meetings and departures with a wave of hand and a handshake of light touch . Not so long ago , even young lovers hugging in public places were considered rude.
But that doesn't mean we are immune(免疫的)to the wonderful feeling of human tactility(触感)。I remember my mother was visibly moved when I hold her hand for the first time while walking her across a busy street in the U.S. The circumstance made it more natural .But cultures don't evolve overnight ."It's hard to get rid of the old belief that man and woman shouldn't have any physical contact ,"some explained .In the late 1970s some feared that social dance would lead to sexual (侵扰).But the awkwardness was overcome as more and more people came to accept dancing with partners who were not their spouses (配偶)as a perfectly normal form of recreation.
In this environment of changing social customs manners , how people act could be the working many factors ,including their personality.Some offer bear hugs to everyone they know while others would shiver at the thought of medical personnel touching them with a stethoscope(听诊器)。The line between proper and improper often shifts(移动)with the sands of circumstances.
Offering hugs to strangers on the street is too radical(激进的)a step to have any meaningful impact on our customs.If anything , the huggers should start with their loved ones.
72.The writer think that __________
A free hug is not acceptable at present
B free hug is a proper custom in china
C offering hugs to strangers is nothing new in China
D man and woman should not have any physical contact
73.According to the passage , free hug_________
A was invented by some Chinese youths
B was introduced from other countries
C was intended to find lovers among the strangers
D was beneficial to a person's emotional health
74.The words "contrary to " in Paragraph 3 mean"_______"
A opposite to B different fromC similar to D the same as
75.The writer give the example of the social dance to ______
A prove that we are immune to the feeling of human touch
B indicate that the society is always changing
C show that many western customs are being accepted
D show that cultures don't evolve overnight