Whenever you send a letter or a postcard，you have to put stamps on the envelope or on the card．When did people first begin to use stamps?Who was thefirst to think of this idea?
In the early nineteenth century，people did not use stamps．They had to pay postag
e when they receive letters．They unhappy about this，especially whenthey pay for a letter which they did not wish to receive at a11．The postage was high at that time，because the post offices had to send many people to cotlem the postage．
RowIand Hill，a schoolnlaster in England，was the first to put forward aproposal to use stamps in the 50s of the nineteenth century．fie thought it wouldbe much easier for people to use stamps to coover postage．They could go to the nearby post office to buy stamps and put them on envelopes before they sent theletters，The post office simply put seals on the stamps so that people could notuse the staraps again．In this way，the post office did not need to send postmen tocollect postage．It only needed to send fewer postmen to deliver letters．’That was a good idea and the governmern finally accepted it．It was not until that people began to use stamps．
A．!he early 19th Century B．the middle 19th century
C．the late 19th century I)．the beginning of the 19th centuryBefore stamps were used，postage ．
| A．was paid by the letter—posters | B．was paid by the letter—receivers |
| C．was collected by postmen | D．BothBand C |
After stamps were used，post offices needn’t
| A．send postmen to collect the postage |
| B．send postmen to collect letters |
| C．send postmen to deliver jetters |
| D．put seals on the used stamps |
Which of the following may be the best title of the passage?
| A．When did people first begin to use stamps? |
| B．Who was the first to think of using stamps? |
| C．Why were postmen sent to collect postage? |
| D．How did stamps come Into use? |
Imagination and fantasy(幻想) can play an important role in achieving the things we fear. Tom, a four-year-old boy with a cancer in his back bone, knew this very well. Fred Epstein, in his book If I Make It to Five, tells a story he heard from one of friends about Tom. He came through several operations and a lot of pain by mastering his imagination.
Tom loved to pretend, and he particularly loved to play superheroes. Dr. Epstein explained that it was actually a wonderful way for his young mind to manage the terrifying and painful life he led.
The day before his third trip to the operating room, Tom was terribly afraid. “Maybe I could go as Superman,” he said to his mom. Hearing this, the mother hesitated (犹豫) for a while. She had avoided buying the expensive costume (戏装), but finally she agreed.
The next day Tom appeared as the powerful Superman, showing off through the hospital halls and coolly waving his hand to the people greeting him along the way. And Tom, with the strength of his fantasy, successfully made it through the operation.
The power of imagination need not be reserved for children only. we all have the power to use our fantasies to attempt things we never thought possible, to go through those things that seem impossible, and to achieve what we never believed we could. Just as Dr. Epstein puts it, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
It doesn’t mean that you should dress as a superhero for your next job interview. But, next time you are tested in a way that seems impossible, imagine what it would take to overcome it. Become the person you need to become to win over your challenge and do it in your mind first. So, let your imagination run wild, and dare to dream.What do we know about Tom?
| A．He was seriously ill | B．He was a dishonest boy. |
| C．He was crazy about magic. | D．He was Dr. Epstein’s patient. |
What can be inferred about Tom’s mother?
| A．She was a rich lady. |
| B．She refused Tom’s request. |
| C．She wanted Tom to be a superhero. |
| D．She wanted to get Tom through the pain. |
When Tom went for the third operation, he ______.
| A．pretended to be painful | B．acted like a superhero |
| C．appeared in poor spirits | D．argued with his mother |
In the last paragraph, you are advised ______.
| A．to go through some difficult tests |
| B．to wake up from your wild dreams |
| C．to become a powerful person in your mind |
| D．to wear expensive clothes for job interviews |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To tell us an interesting story. |
| B．To help us make right decisions. |
| C．To advise us to care about children. |
| D．To encourage us to use our imagination. |
He slept in my arms last night, with his little head on my shoulder. I stayed awake listening to his breathing. He smiled in his sleep, and I wondered what could be funny to a one-year-old baby. I could sense the safety he felt.
However, my home life is completely different from the scene that greets me each morning at work. As a lawyer at Eastlake Juvenile Court (少年法庭), I always see kids that society has labeled the worst of the worst, the “thief”, the “robber”, the list goes on. But they are still children. As I sit across from them, I have a chance to talk to them about their lives, homes, and dreams. I sit through tears, anger, but mostly hurt. I see their parents, most of whom sit in the hallways day after day wanting to take their kids home. I also see parents that come to the court ready to walk away from their children forever. Each day I see hope destroyed.
I have come to realize that these children are our future, even if we don’t want to admit it. They also want to sleep on a mother’s shoulder at night, they also had dreams
and smiled in their sleep when they were babies. But then something terrible happened, which robbed (剥夺) them of that youth, that hope, and that joy. I hope one day we can find how to put back the destroyed childhoods and ruined lives.
Every day when I go home, I hold my children tightly in my arms and say “I love you” over and over again. And as I am filled with hope, I cannot forget those children I leave behind. I live in two worlds, one of promise, one of tragedy(悲剧). No matter what they are accused (指控) of, what crimes (罪行) they have carried out and what society thinks of them, they are children, they are our children and our future.The author mentions her son in Paragraph 1 mainly to tell readers _____.
| A．her son is lovely |
| B．it’s hard to raise a child |
| C．what leads children to break laws |
| D．children should be taken good care of |
The underlined word “labeled” in Paragraph 2 can best be replaced by _____.
| A．praised | B．chosen | C．designed | D．described |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the children who break laws?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Hopeful. | C．Angry. | D．Relaxed. |
What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?
| A．To accuse those parents who ruin their children’s life. |
| B．To show the difficulty of her work as a lawyer. |
| C．To win support for problem children. |
| D．To show her deep love for her child. |
Check out our tsunami facts and learn some interesting information related to these great walls of water that can cause so much destruction. Find out what causes tsunamis and read about some recent examples of tsunamis that have occurred around the globe.
The Japanese word for tsunami means harbor wave.
Tsunamis are sometimes referred to as tidal (受潮汐影响的) waves but this term has fallen out of favor because tsunamis are not related to tides.
Tsunamis are huge waves of water that are usually caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
As a tsunami approaches the shore (海岸), water may move back from the coast. If it is shallow (浅的) enough the water may be pulled back hundreds of meters. If you are in the area, you can know that a tsunami is on the way when you see this phenomenon.
Regions in tsunami danger zones often have warning systems in place to give people as much time as possible to move to a safe place.
When tsunamis hit shallow water (often near the coast) they slow down but increase in height.
An earthquake in the Indian Ocean off Indonesia in December 2004 caused a tsunami that killed over 200,000 people in 14 countries.
In March 2011, the Tohoku earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan caused a tsunami that was a major factor in the death of over 15,000 people.
The tsunami waves created by the Tohoku earthquake reached heights of over 40 meters in some areas, wiping out coastal towns and causing a number of nuclear accidents.How many causes of tsunamis are mentioned in the text?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
In the Tohoku earthquake over 15,000 people died mainly because of ______.
| A．the earthquake itself |
| B．the lack of warning systems |
| C．the tsunami caused by the earthquake |
| D．the nuclear accidents caused by the tsunami |
What do we learn from the text?
| A．The Japanese invented the term “tidal waves”. |
| B．The term “tidal waves” is used more often than tsunami. |
| C．When tsunamis slow down, their waves can reach 40 meters. |
| D．When hitting shallow water, tsunamis will rise higher. |
The text is developed mainly by ______.
| A．listing some facts | B．giving some examples |
| C．providing some numbers | D．making some comparisons |
Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city. The next building was only a few feet away from mine. There was a woman living there, and I had never met her, yet I could see she sat by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading.
After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty. Everything was unclear through the dirty window. I would say to myself. “I wonder why that woman doesn’t wash her window. It really looks terrible.”
One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window on the inside.
Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest. What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly visible (看见). Her window was clean!
Then it dawned on me. I had been criticizing (批评) her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window.
That was quite an important lesson for me. How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own shortcomings?
Since then, whenever I wanted to judge (评判) someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?” I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world about me more clearly.The writer couldn’t see everything clearly through the window because _______.
| A．the woman’s window was dirty |
| B．the writer’s window was dirty |
| C．the woman lived nearby |
| D．the writer was near-sighted |
“It dawned on me” probably means “_______”.
| A．I began to understand it | B．it cheered me up |
| C．I knew it grew light | D．it began to get dark |
It’s clear that ________.
| A．the writer had never met the woman before |
| B．the writer often washed the window |
| C．they both worked as cleaners |
| D．they lived in a small town |
From the passage, we can learn _______.
| A．one shouldn’t criticize others very often |
| B．one should often make his windows clean |
| C．one must judge himself before he judges others |
| D．one must look at others through his dirty windows[ |
Most people know that awkward feeling when you step into an elevator（电梯） with other people and try not to make eye contact.
But new research suggests it may be down to a subconscious（潜意识的）power struggle being played out as you make your way up or down.
A study found that people decide where they stand based on a micro social grading, established within seconds of entering the lift.
Rebekah Rousi, a Ph.D. student in Cognitive Science, conducted a study of elevator behavior in two of the tallest office buildings in Adelaide, Australia.
As part of her research, she took a total of 30 lift rides in the two buildings, and discovered there was an established order to where people tended stand.
In a blog, she writes that more senior men seemed to direct themselves towards the back of the elevator cabins.
She said: 'In front of them were younger men, and in front of them were women of all ages.'
She also noticed there was a difference in where people directed their stare half way through the ride.
Men watched the monitors(监控器), looked in the side mirrors (in one building) to see themselves, and in the door mirrors (of the other building) to also watch others.
'Women would watch the monitors and avoid eye contact with other users (unless in conversation) and the mirrors,' she writes.
The student concluded it could be that people who are shyer stand toward the front, where they can't see other passengers, whereas brave people stand in the back, where they have a view of everyone else.According to Rebekah Rousi, senior men intend to stand ______ of the elevator cabins.
| A．in the front | B．in the middle |
| C．near the side mirrors | D．at the back |
The underlined word “ them ” in paragraph 7 refers to ______.
| A．senior men | B．younger women |
| C．younger men | D．Women |
Why do women choose to stand in the front?
| A．Because they are too shy to make eye contact with others. |
| B．Because they can have a view of everyone else. |
| C．Because they want to show their power. |
| D．Because they want to watch the monitors. |