Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson River must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a branch of the great Appalachian family, and can be seen to the west rising up to a noble height and towering over the surrounding country. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their beautiful shapes on the clear evening sky, but sometimes when it is cloudless, gray steam gathers around the top of the mountains which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will shine and light up like a crown of glory (华丽的皇冠).
At the foot of these mountains, a traveler may see light smoke going up from a village.
In that village, and in one of the houses (which, to tell the exact truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many years ago, a simple, good-natured fellow by the name of Rip Van Winkle.
Rip's great weakness was a natural dislike of all kinds of money-making labor. It could not be from lack of diligence (勤劳), for he could sit all day on a wet rock and fish without saying a word, even though he was not encouraged by a single bite. He would carry a gun on his shoulder for hours, walking through woods and fields to shoot a few birds or squirrels. He would never refuse to help a neighbor, even in the roughest work. The women of the village, too, used to employ him to do such little jobs as their less helpful husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to everybody's business but his own.
If left to himself, he would have whistled ( 吹口哨) life away in perfect satisfaction; but his wife was always mad at him for his idleness (懒散). Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was endlessly going, so that he was forced to escape to the outside of the house -- the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband.Which of the following best describes the Catskill Mountains?
| A．They are on the west of the Hudson River. |
| B．They are very high and beautiful in this area. |
| C．They can be seen from the Appalachian family. |
| D．They gather beautiful clouds in blue and purple. |
The hero of the story is probably_____________.
| A．hard-working and likes all kinds of work |
| B．idle and hates all kinds of jobs |
| C．simple, idle but very dutiful |
| D．gentle, helpful but a little idle |
The underlined words "henpecked husband" in the last paragraph probably means a man who
| A．likes hunting | B．is afraid of hens |
| C．loves his wife | D．is afraid of his wife |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Catskill Mountains. | B．A Mountain Village. |
| C．Rip Van Winkle. | D．A Dutiful Husband. |
Lots of people have hobbies. Some people collect old coins or foreign stamps; some do needlework; others spend most of their spare time on a particular sport.
A lot of people enjoy reading. But reading tastes differ widely. Some people only read newspapers or comics, some like reading novels, while others prefer books on astronomy, wildlife, or technological discoveries.
If I happen to be interested in horses or precious stones, I cannot expect everyone else to share my enthusiasm. If I watch all the sports programs on TV with great pleasure, I must put up with the fact that other people find sports boring.
Is there nothing that interests us all? Is there nothing that concerns everyone—no matter who they are or where they live in the world? Yes, dear Sophie, there are questions that certainly should interest everyone. They are precisely the questions this course is about.
What is the most important thing in life? If we ask someone living on the edge of starvation, the answer is food. If we ask someone dying of cold, the answer is warmth. If we put the same question to someone who feels lonely and isolated, the answer will probably be the company of other people.
But when these basic needs have been satisfied—will there still be something that everybody needs? Philosophers think so. They believe that man cannot live by bread alone. Of course everyone needs food. And everyone needs love and care. But there is something else—apart from that—which everyone needs, and that is to figure out who we are and why we are here.
Being interested in why we are here is not a “casual” interest like collecting stamps. People who ask such questions are taking part in a debate that has gone on as long as man has lived on this planet. How the universe, the earth, and life came into being is a bigger and more important question than who won the most gold medals in the last Olympics. This text is most probably taken from __________.
| A．a research paper | B．a course schedule |
| C．a personal letter | D．a book review |
Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
| A．Philosophical questions are as interesting as collecting stamps. |
| B．Thinking about philosophical questions is a serious interest. |
| C．Figuring out who we are and why we are here is man’s basic needs. |
| D．Philosophy has universal appeal and concerns everybody in nature. |
The author believes that __________.
| A．no existing subject can interest everyone in the world |
| B．different people may have different interests and concerns |
| C．everyone has to figure out who we are and why we are here |
| D．people in modern society pay more attention to philosophical questions |
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| A．Richard, a post-graduate from Quebec, Canada, who sent his design on Dec.20. |
| B．Amy, a 28-year-old Asian-American teacher, who sent her design on Jan. 20. |
| C．Jessie, a 16-year-old student from New York, who sent her design on Dec. 29. |
| D．John, a 68-year-old retired engineer from San Francisco, who sent his design on Jan. 10. |
Which of the following is NOT true about James Surowiecki?
| A．James Surowiecki is the author of The Financial Page column. |
| B．James Surowiecki usually has discussions with people from different fields. |
| C．James Surowiecki speaks with a chairman about issues of medicine this month. |
| D．Visiting newyorker.com/go/vasella, you can watch the conversation of this month between James and an economist. |
___________ can be provided by The Big Apple Circus Care program for sick children.
| A．Excellent treatment and care | B．Trained professional doctors and nurses |
| C．Unique methods to relieve stress | D．Special pediatric facilities |
Which of the following can be used by the Big Apple Circus Clown Care program to promote itself?
| A． We help all children live happy lives. |
| B． Our doctors jump through rings to cure the blues. |
| C． Every life deserves world class care. |
| D． Work together for a healthier world. |
Air pollution is damaging 60% of Europe’s prime wildlife sites in meadows, forests and bushes, according to a new report.
A team of EU scientists said nitrogen emissions(氮排放) from cars, factories and farming were threatening biodiversity. It’s the second report this week warning of the on-going risks and threats linked to nitrogen pollution.
Nitrogen in the atmosphere is harmless in its inert(惰性的) state, but the report says reactive forms of nitrogen, largely produced by human activity, can be a menace to the natural world.
Emissions mostly come from vehicle exhausts(排气), factories, artificial fertilizers(肥料) and animal waste from intensive farming. The reactive nitrogen they emit to the air disrupts the environment in two ways: It can make acidic soils too acidic to support their previous mix of species. But primarily, because nitrogen is a fertilizer, it favors wild plants that can maximize the use of nitrogen to help them grow.
In effect, some of the nitrogen spread to fertilize crops is carried in the atmosphere to fertilize weeds, possibly a great distance from where the chemicals were first applied.
The effects of fertilization and acidification favor common aggressive species like grasses, brambles and nettles. They harm more delicate species like mosses(苔藓), and insect-eating sundew plants.
The report said 60% of wildlife sites were now receiving a critical load of reactive nitrogen. The report’s lead author, Dr Kevin Hicks from the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), told BBC News that England’s Peak District had a definitely low range of species as a result of the reactive nitrogen that fell on the area.
“Nitrogen creates a rather big problem that seems to me to have been given too little attention,” he said. “Governments are responsible for protecting areas like this, but they are clearly failing.”
He said more research was needed to understand the knock-on effects for creatures from the changes in vegetation accidentally caused by emissions from cars, industry and farms.
At the conference, the representatives agreed “The Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen”. The document highlights the importance of reducing reactive nitrogen emissions to the environment, adding that the benefits of reducing nitrogen outweigh the costs of taking action.The underlined word “menace” is used to express that the reactive nitrogen, largely produced by human activity can be ___________.
| A．frightening | B．threatening | C．unique | D．unusual |
We can infer from the passage that _________.
| A．it’s harmless to have reactive nitrogen existing in the atmosphere |
| B．reactive nitrogen emissions help aggressive species less than crops |
| C．the harm to those delicate species has a negative impact on biodiversity |
| D．reactive nitrogen can fertilize soils and keep their biodiversity |
The team of EU scientists released the second report of nitrogen emissions this week when __________.
| A．no action was taken to stop nitrogen emission |
| B．governments were willing to protect areas harmed by nitrogen |
| C．“The Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen” was agreed |
| D．nitrogen emissions were threatening wildlife sites’ biodiversity |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Keeping Away From Nitrogen Emissions | B．Stopping Nitrogen Emissions |
| C．Air Pollution Damaging Europe’s Wildlife | D．Saving Europe’s Wildlife |
I think it was my mother who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. She felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. And, for her, that generally meant telling a “little white lie.” As a young child I thought it was kind of cool. And, naturally, when I would come to her with a concern or question wondering what I should do, she generally advised me to lie.
“Mom, I told Theresa that I would go over to her house, but now I would rather go to Sue’s house to play.”
“Tell Theresa you’re sick,” she would advise. And generally I did. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of conscience. On many painful occasions Theresa would find out that I really went to Sue’s house without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than it is to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my mother had never learned that lesson.
I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remembered the time she told someone that her favorite restaurant had closed, because she didn’t want to see them there anymore. Or the time she told Dad that she loved the lawn-mower he gave her for her birthday. Or when she claimed that our phone lines had been down when she was trying to explain why she hadn’t been in touch with a friend of hers for weeks. And what bothered me even more were all the times she had involved me into her lies. Like the time she told my guidance counselor that I had to miss school for exploratory surgery, when she really needed me to babysit. And it even started to bother me when someone would call for her and she would ask me to tell them that she wasn’t there.
So, I started my own personal fight against her dishonesty. When I answered the phone and it was someone my mother didn’t want to talk to, I said, “Louise, mom is here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.” The first time I did it, she punished me, but I refused to apologize. I told her that I had decided that it was wrong to lie. And the next time it happened I did the same thing. Finally, she approached me and said, “I agree that lying is not the best thing to do, but we need to find a way to be honest without being rude.” She admitted that her methods weren’t right, and I admitted that mine were a bit too extreme.
Over the past few years, the two of us have worked together to be honest—and yet kind. Honesty should mean more than not lying. It should mean speaking the truth in kindness. Though I started by trying to teach my mom the importance of honesty, I ended up gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of the term. The author’s mother __________.
| A．thought white lies were not lies |
| B．helped the author get out of trouble with white lies |
| C．told the author to lie when in trouble |
| D．taught the author the importance of being honest |
The author __________.
| A．was thankful to her mother’s advice |
| B．felt more awkward when being caught lying |
| C．found that telling the truth hurt more than telling a lie |
| D．felt guilty when hurting people with her honesty |
It can be inferred that the author’s mother __________.
| A．met her friends in the same restaurant regularly |
| B．didn’t get along with the author’s teachers |
| C．was not popular among her friends |
| D．wanted to have something else for her birthday |
Finally the author and her mother agreed that __________.
| A．kind-heartedness is more important than honesty |
| B．appropriate methods are the key to telling a good lie |
| C．honesty is defined as kindness as well as truthfulness |
| D．absolute honesty is basic to good interpersonal relationships |
You'd be forgiven for thinking that running after children each day would leave parents in the best shape of their lives.But a study has found that the mothers and fathers of young children are more unhealthy than their childless peers(同龄人）.
Mothers with young children are heavier and eat more calories and fatty foods,and consume more sugary dinks than chidless women,scientists said.And both sexes are less active than those in their age group without children.
Parents often choose quick,easily preparesd foods that are high in fat and calories,and by choosing these foods they may in turn serve them to their children,forming a cycle of unhealthy diet.
Dr.Berge,one of the study authors,said:“This isn't a study about blame,this is about spotting a very high-risk time period for parents that doctors should be aware of ,so they can offer solutions(解决办法）.”
According to the study ,mothers ate more fatty foods and drank about seven sugary drinks weekly,equal to about four chidless women.They also had an average of 2,360 calories daily,368 calories more than women without children,With that many calorise,women that age would need to be active to avoid to avoid gaining weight.
Fathers ate about the same amount of daily calories childless men and both had an average boby-mass index(指数）,but fathersgot less physical activity—about five hours weekly ,compared to almost seven hours among chidless men.
The study has several limitations－there's no data on how many women reccently had babies.Ther's also no information on the number of single parents,who likely face diet and exercise challenges.Sarah Kriger,an American dietician who works with new mothers said some of the mothers may have had postpartum(产后）depression,which might affect their eating and exercise habits.What does the author mainly aim to tell us in the passage?
| A．Childless couples live a much happier life than those with children. |
| B．Mothers will be unhealthy because of the postpartum deprdession |
| C．Couples of young children eat more fatty foods and lead unhealthier lives. |
| D．Fathers tend to eat high calorie foods because they should run after thrie children. |
The underlined part“in the best shape”in the first paragraph means that a person.
| A．is busy and tires | B．has a most harmonious family |
| C．enjoys the most happiness | D．is in the most healthy condition |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned about mothers with children?
| A．They are less active |
| B．They eat unhealthy foods |
| C．They may feel unhappy aftre having babies |
| D．They may lose their jobs aftre having babies |
What Dr.Berge says in Paragraph 4 suggests that.
| A．Parents should pay more attention to their chidren |
| B．doctors should do something with parents'high-risk time period |
| C．the study has drawn attention of doctors and young parents |
| D．parents should not be blamde for having an unhealthy lifestyle |
We can learn from the last paragraph that.
| A．the result of the study result in aan unscientific way |
| B．the study was carried out in an unscientific way |
| C．single mothers are surely facing quyite different situation |
| D．postpartum depression will help mothers to lead a healthier lirf |