People turn to magic(魔力)chiefly as a form of insurance--that is, they use it along with actions that actually bring results. For example, hunters may use a hunting charm(咒语). But they also use their hunting skills and knowledge of animals. The charm may give hunters the extra confidence they need to hunt even more successfully than they would without it. If they shoot a lot of game(猎物), they credit the charm for their success. Many events happen naturally without magic. Crops grow without it, and sick people get well without it. But if people use magic to bring a good harvest or to cure a patient, they may believe the magic was responsible.
People also tend to forget magic's failures and to be impressed by its surface successes. They may consider magic successful if it appears to work only 10 per cent of the time. Even when magic fails, people often explain the failure without doubting the power of the magic. They may say that the magician made a mistake in reciting the spell or that another magician cast a more powerful spell against the magician.
Many anthropologists(人类学家) believe that people have faith in magic because they feel a need to believe in it. People may turn to magic to reduce their fear and uncertainty if they feel they have no control over the outcome of a situation. For example, farmers use knowledge and skill when they plant their fields. But they know that weather, insects, or diseases might ruin the crops. So farmers in some societies may also plant a charm or perform a magic rite to ensure a good harvest.From the passage, we can learn that the writer of the passage may be _______.
| A．a hunter | B．a farmer | C．a magician | D．an anthropologist |
Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
| A．Magic and Hunting. | B．Magic and Farming. |
| C．Why Magic Works? | D．Why People Believe in Magic? |
The underlined word “spell”(Paragraph 2) most likely means______.
| A．magic words. | B．magic events. | C．words or expressions | D．magicians. |
SEE a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hitting "print" on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object like you would a picture.But it is not that hard to understand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂)and certain metals. The thinner each layer is --- from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair --- the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was barely affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and introduced to more diverse and common uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of ---flutes (笛子), bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell University in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, according to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3-D printing becomes more commonplace, it may bring about certain problems --- such as piracy. "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?" an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?According to the article, in the future, the 3-D printing technology will ___.
| A．enable people to make better purchases online |
| B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers |
| C．change the way we make many products |
| D．shorten the time it takes for people to get what they buy online |
What was the big event happening in the 3-D printing industry last year?
| A．The 3-D printing technology was taken out ofthe factory. |
| B．The 3-D printer became more affordable forconsumers. |
| C．The 3-D printer was used for medical treatmentfor the first time. |
| D．3-D printing technology began to be used invarious fields. |
How is the last paragraph developed?
| A．By analyzing a cause and an effect. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By presenting research findings. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Printing out everything | B．Technology in the future |
| C．Online shopping disappearing | D．Great demand for 3-D printers |
Looking for some inspiration or the “write” kind of ideas for your creative stories? To start with, some writers describe winter by using their five senses or their imagination. Others write on their favorite winter activity. Whatever you choose to write about, working on a winter story can always help to improve your writing skills. Now read the following story and see if it helps get rid of any icy writing block you’ ve been struggling with.
A Winter Adventure
Beep, beep. Beep-beep: the alarm clock rang. Slowly, I got out of warm bed down onto the wooden floor which the winter had thrown its cold upon. The bitter cold temperature penetrated（穿透）my socks and I hurried to put my feet in shoes.
Looking out of the window, I watched the white snow, soft and thick, drop onto rooftops and trees. Half an hour later, finishing the last of my hot chocolate, I prepared to enter the adventure that waited for me outside. I buttoned my jacket and fastened my boots. Hat on, I opened the door and was greeted by the winter coldness.
In the depths of winter, the early morning did not have the rush of the rest of the year. Most of my neighbours were put off by the cold, and stayed in bed until the sun had climbed higher into the sky.
Unseen by those who remained locked inside their homes, warm in their beds, I enjoyed being alone with the beauty of the wintertime. Those indoors were unable to appreciate the snow-scapes, ice crystals, frost and the crisp（清新的）breeze. For them, the coming of winter meant just the arrival of the cold.
Appreciation depends on contrasts. One cannot love the warmth of April if one has not known the freezing cold of winter. Later that year, the heat of the sun on my skin would be all the more wonderful for my memories of that cold morning and others like it.The underlined word “adventure” refers to____________.
| A．getting out of bed on the cold winter morning. |
| B．enjoying the loveliness of the winter outdoors |
| C．going skiing on the cold winter morning |
| D．throwing snowballs with friends. |
According to the story A Winter Adventure, most of the neighbours _________.
| A．didn’t work in winter | B．stayed up late in winter |
| C．missed the beauty of winter | D．enjoyed the seasons except winter |
Which of these statements is true according to the story A Winter Adventure?
| A．Of all the seasons, the writer loves winter most. |
| B．The writer regrets that he went out on the freezing cold winter morning. |
| C．The writer believes contrast makes our experiences of the seasons lovelier. |
| D．The writer values the autumn and summer more than the winter |
What function does the story A Winter Adventure serve?
| A．To share some winter thoughts with readers. |
| B．To show readers how to work on a winter story. |
| C．To inspire readers to take more exercise in winter |
| D．To tell readers how to appreciate the beauty of winter. |
One day, Wilson was walking quietly along the road when someone hit him hard on the back of his neck. He looked behind him, and saw a young man whom he had never seen before.
“How dare you hit me like that?” shouted Wilson.
The young man said he had mistaken Wilson for a friend of his and that he thought Wilson was making a lot of noise about nothing.
This insult(侮辱) made Wilson even angrier, of course, and he at once decided to bring the young man before a judge.
Now , the judge who heard the case was a friend of the young man’s father’s, and, although he pretended to be quite fair, he was thinking about what he could do to protect the young man from being punished while at the same time not to be appearing unfair.
Finally he said to Wilson, “I understand your feelings in this matter very well. Would you be satisfied if I let you hit the young man as he hit you?”
Wilson said he would not be. The young man had insulted him and should be properly punished.
“Well, then,” said the judge to the young man, “I order you to pay ten coins to Wilson.”
Ten coins was very little for such a crime, but the young man did not have it with him, so the judge allowed him to go and get it.
Wilson waited for him to return with the money. He waited an hour, and then two hours, while the judge took care of other business.
When it was nearly time for the court to close, Wilson chose a moment when the judge was especially busy, came up quietly and hit him hard on the back of the neck. Then he said to him, “I am sorry, but I can’t wait any longer. When the young man comes back, tell him that I have passed my right to the ten coins on to you.”Why did the young man hit Wilson from behind?
| A．Wilson had hit him before. |
| B．He had mistaken Wilson for a friend of his. |
| C．Wilson was a stranger there. |
| D．Wilson made a lot of noise when he was walking. |
The judge thought about how to protect the young man because .
| A．he thought it a small matter |
| B．as a judge, he should be fair |
| C．he thought the man too young to be punished |
| D．the young man was his friend’s son |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The young man was ordered to hit himself as hard as he had done on Wilson. |
| B．Wilson was allowed to do more insulting on the young man. |
| C．Wilson was allowed to hit the young man as hard as he had done. |
| D．The young man was ordered to hand a lot of money to Wilson. |
The judge allowed the young man to go home, hoping .
| A．he would not return any more | B．he could escape from there |
| C．he would return in two hours | D．he would get the money |
Many people go to school for an education. They learn languages, history, geography, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Others go to school to learn a skill so that they can make a living. School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything from school. A teacher, no matter how much he knows, cannot teach his students everything they want to know. The teacher’s job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So, much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.
It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to memorize (记住) some facts or a formula (公式). It is usually quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientists, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo didn’t get everything from school. But they were all so successful. They invented so many things for mankind. Above all, they knew how to use their brains.Whether a teacher is more _______or less, he can’t teach his students everything they want to know.
| A．knowledgeable | B．useful | C．difficulty | D．important |
A teacher’s job is mainly to train his students to master the ability of ________.
| A．learning by themselves | B．making a living |
| C．reading and thinking | D．studying all the subjects |
The reason for scientists’ success is that _______.
| A．they read books that were not taught at school |
| B．they knew how to use their brains |
| C．they wasted not a single moment |
| D．they worked all their lives |
When something goes wrong, it can be very satisfying to say, "Well, it’s so-and-so’s fault. "or "I know I’m late, but it’s not my fault; the car broke down. " It is probably not your fault, but once you form the habit of blaming somebody or something else for a bad situation, you are a loser. You have no power and could do nothing that helps change the situation. However, you can have great power over what happens to you if you stop focusing on whom to blame and start focusing on how to remedy the situation. This is the winner’s key to success.
Winners are great at overcoming problems. For example, if you were late because your car broke down, maybe you need to have your car examined more regularly. Or, you might start to carry along with you the useful phone numbers, so you could call for help when in need. For another example, if your colleague causes you problems on the job for lack of responsibility or ability, find ways of dealing with his irresponsibility or inability rather than simply blame the person. Ask to work with a different person, or don’t rely on this person. You should accept that the person is not reliable and find creative ways to work successfully regardless of how your colleague fails to do his job well.
This is what being a winner is all about — creatively using your skills and talents so that you are successful no matter what happens. Winners don’t have fewer problems in their lives; they have just as many difficult situation to face as anybody else. They are just better at seeing those problems as challenges and opportunities to develop their own talents. So, stop focusing on "whose fault it is. " Once you are confident about your power over bad situations, problems are just stepping stones for success.According to the passage, winners.
| A．deal with problems rather than blame others |
| B．meet with fewer difficulties in their lives |
| C．have responsible and able colleagues |
| D．blame others rather than themselves |
The underlined word remedy in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to .
| A．avoid | B．accept | C．improve | D．consider |
When your colleague brings about a problem, you should.
| A．find a better way to handle the problem |
| B．blame him for his lack of responsibility |
| C．tell him to find the cause of the problem |
| D．ask another person for help |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．Winner’s Secret. | B．A Winner’s Problem. |
| C．A Winner’s Opportunity. | D．A Winner’s Achievement. |