"I’ve changed my mind. I wanted to have a telescope, but now I want my dad back." Lucien Lawence’s letter to Father Christmas written after his father had been knifed to death outside his school gate, must have touched every heart. Lucien went on to say that without his father he couldn’t see the stars in the sky. When those whom we love depart from us, we cannot see the stars for a while.
But Lucien, the stars are still there, and one day, when you are older and your tears have gone, you will see them again. And, in a strange way, I expect that you will find your father is there too, in your mind and in your heart. I find that my parents, long dead now, still figure in many of my dreams and that I think of them perhaps more than I ever did when they were alive. I still live to please them and I’m still surprised by their reactions. I remember that when I became a professor, I was so proud, or rather so pleased with myself, that I couldn’t wait to cable my parents. The reply was a long time in coming, but when it did, all mother said was, "I hope this means that now you will have more time for the children.” I haven’t forgotten. The values of my parents still live on.
It makes me pause and think about how I will live on in the hearts and minds of my children and of those for whom I care. Would I have been as ready as Philip Lawrence have been to face the aggressors (挑衅者),and to lay down my life for those in my care? How many people would want me back for Christmas? It’s a serious thought, one to give me pause.
I pray silently, sometimes, in the dead of night, that ancient cry of a poet "Deliver my soul from the sword, and my darling from the power of the dog." Yet I know the death comes to us all, and sometimes comes suddenly. We must therefore plan to live forever, but live as if we will die tomor-row. We live on, in the lives of those we loved, and therefore we ought to have a care for what they will remember and what they will treasure. If more parents knew this in their hearts to be true, there might be fewer knives on our streets today.
16. according to the whole text we can see that the first paragraph ________.
A. puts forward the subject of the text
B. shows the author’s pity on the kid
C. acts as an introduction to the discussion
D. makes a clear statement of the author’s views
17. In the second paragraph the author mainly wants to explain to us ________.
A. how much he misses his parents now
B. why his parents often appear in his dreams
C. when Lucien will get over all his sadness
D. how proud he was when he succeeded in life
18. What feeling did the author’s mother express in her reply?
A. Proud. B. Happy. C. Disappointed. D. Worried.
19. In the author’s opinion, the value of a person’s life is ________.
A. to leave behind a precious memory to the people related
B. to have a high sense of duty to the whole society
C. to care what others will remember and treasure
D. to share happiness and sadness with his family
20. What does the writer mean by the sentence taken from an old poem?
A. Call on criminals and murderers to lay down their guns.
B. Advise parents stay with their children safely at home.
C. Spend every day meaningfully in memory of the death.
D. Try to keep violence and murder far away from society.
Recently, professor of philosophy（哲学）in the United States has written a book called Money and the Meaning of Life. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our daily life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life.
He says our relations with others often become clearly defined（清晰的）when money enters the picture. You might have wonderful relationship with somebody and you think that you are very good friends. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend some money. If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn’t. This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it.
Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.
Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about being rich, because you are a self-made man?
Answer: The most surprising thing is how people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I don’t know much. All I am is rich.
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? How much do I need for any given purposes in my life? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life.According to the first paragraph, people have not realized ______.
| A．how important money is in their daily life |
| B．how one spends money shows what is important to him |
| C．that money is more important than their philosophy of life |
| D．that their understanding of life is more important than money |
The author seems to believe that asking your friend to lend you some money ________.
| A．is a good way to test your friendship |
| B．will do harm to your friendship |
| C．will strengthen your friendship |
| D．is a good way to break off your friendship |
What does the American professor of philosophy want to explain in his book?
| A．Money is an end． | B．Money is a means． |
| C．Money is everything． | D．Money is unimportant |
The underlined phrase “enter the picture” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “_________”.
| A．is used up | B．is spent on pictures |
| C．is paid in the right way | D．is paid attention to |
What can we learn about the millionaire from his answer in the interview?
| A．He doesn’t feel that he is well educated. |
| B．He doesn’t think he is a very important person. |
| C．He doesn’t consider himself to be very successful. |
| D．He doesn’t think that being rich deserves so much attention. |
If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.
The study also found the younger people learn a second language, the greater the effect is.
A team led by Dr Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density(密度)in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists.
It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible(灵活的),”he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and 34. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.The main subject talked about in this passage is ______.
| A．science on learning a second language |
| B．language can help brain power |
| C．man's ability of learning a second language |
| D．language learning and maths study |
In the second paragraph, the writer mentions “exercise” in order to ______.
| A．make people believe language learning helps grey matter work well |
| B．prove that one needs more practice when he (she) is learning a language |
| C．to show the importance of using the language when you learn the language |
| D．say language is also a kind of physical labor |
The underlined word “bilingual” probably means ______.
| A．a researcher on language learning |
| B．an English native speaker |
| C．an active language learner |
| D．a person who can speak two languages |
We may know from the scientific findings that ______.
| A．the ability of learning a second language is changing all the time |
| B．there is no difference between a later second language learner and one who doesn't know a second language |
| C．the experience of learning a second language has bad effect on people's brain |
| D．the earlier you start to learn a second language, the higher the grey matter density is |
In the last two paragraphs, the author wants to tell us that ______.
| A．early learning of a second language helps you a great deal in studying other subjects |
| B．learning a second language is the same as studying maths |
| C．Italian is the best choice for you as a second language |
| D．you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language |
In the kitchen of my mother's houses there has always been a wooden stand with a small notepad and a hole for a pencil.
I’m looking for paper on which to note down the name of a book I am recommending to my mother. Over forty years since my earliest memories of the kitchen pad and pencil, five houses later, the current paper and pencil look the same as they always did. Surely it can't be the same pencil. The pad is more modern, but the wooden stand is definitely the original one.
“I'm just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these years.” I say to her, walking back into the living-room with a sheet of paper and the pencil. “You still use a pencil. Can’t you afford a pen?”
My mother replies a little sharply. “It works perfectly well. I've always kept the stand in the kitchen. I never knew when I might want to note down an idea, and I was always in the kitchen these days. ”
Immediately I can picture her, hair wild, blue housecoat covered in flour, a wooden spoon in one hand, the pencil in the other, her mouth moving silently. My mother smiles and says, “One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty. One of the children must have taken the paper. So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back. It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on.”
This story—which happened before I was born—reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is also a gifted mathematician. I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work. Later, when my mother is in the bathroom, I go into her kitchen and turn over the breadboards. Sure enough, on the back of the smallest one, are some penciled marks I recognize as mathematics. Those symbols have traveled unaffected through fifty years, rooted in the soil of a cheap wooden breadboard, invisible exhibits at every meal. Why has the author's mother always kept the notepad and pencil in the kitchen?
| A．To leave messages. |
| B．To list her everyday tasks. |
| C．To note down maths problems. |
| D．To write down a flash of inspiration（灵感）. |
What is the author's original opinion about the wooden stand?
| A．It has great value for the family. |
| B．It needs to be replaced by a better one. |
| C．It brings her back to her lonely childhood. |
| D．It should be passed on to the next generation. |
The author feels embarrassed for ______.
| A．blaming her mother wrongly |
| B．giving her mother a lot of trouble |
| C．not making good use of time as her mother did |
| D．not making any breakthrough in her field |
What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
| A．The mother is successful in her career. |
| B．The family members like traveling. |
| C．The author had little time to play when young. |
| D．The marks on the breadboard have disappeared. |
In the author's mind, her mother is ______.
| A．strange in behavior |
| B．enthusiastic about her research |
| C．fond of collecting old things |
| D．careless about her appearance |
Want to travel as cheaply as possible while enjoying the great scenery as much as you like?
Backpacking is the way. As the most popular traveling choice among young western people, backpacking allows you to travel at your own free will. Carrying a tent, sleeping bag and clothes, backpackers also need to pack an attitude that will help them deal with many mental and physical challenges.
It is a thrill to put our ability to test and challenge ourselves with sorts of difficulties we might come across. So, backpacking is something young people can hardly deny.
Young people in Europe often travel around by train. Now, with plane tickets dropping in price, more are traveling to distant countries, such as Australia and China. And some just travel within their own countries.
But no matter where a backpacker travels, planning in advance is important if he or she wants to enjoy the trip.
Clothing
In summer, light, waterproof clothes are best. Backpackers must remember to travel lightly and not pack too many clothes.
Medicine
There are many medicines, especially for summer, such as those for sunstroke, snake bites and mosquitoes. Others are useful in every season, such as those for common colds, poisoning and diarrhea.
Cards
Three types of cards are of great value for backpacks: student Identity Card, personal ID and a credit card.
A student ID card can be helpful for saving money. It often gets train tickets and entrance tickets for cheaper prices in many Western countries.
Personal ID card can, not only get you out of trouble with local police, but also prove useful in all sorts of other situations.
Carrying a credit card can be a safe way of carrying money, as cash can easily get lost, stolen or wet.
And of course, don’t forget to enjoy your trip!What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．Backpackers also need to be in high spirits when they want to travel. |
| B．Backpackers may also face dangerous situations. |
| C．Backpackers also need to talk with doctors about their traveling. |
| D．Backpackers need to make preparation for many kinds of difficulty in advance. |
What does the underlined word “waterproof” mean?
| A．Easy to wash. | B．Not letting water go through. | C．Washed without water. | D．Used in water. |
If you are stopped by a policeman in the street, you should show ______ to the police.
| A．your student ID | B．your credit card | C．your personal ID | D．your passport |
What is of most advantage to backpackers?
| A．They can travel very easily. |
| B．They won’t worry about where to live. |
| C．They can have the chance to take some adventures. |
| D．They can take some physical exercise. |
What is the author’s purpose to write this passage?
| A．To give some ideas about traveling. |
| B．To encourage the young to travel. |
| C．To tell people how to avoid something unpleasant. |
| D．To offer some useful advice for traveling. |
He was the baby with no name. Found and taken from the north Atlantic 6 days after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, his tiny body so moved the rescue workers that they called him “our baby.” In their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, people collected money for a headstone in front of the baby's grave, carved with the words: “To the memory of an unknown child.” He has rested there ever since.
But history has a way of uncovering its secrets. On Nov. 5, this year, three members of a family from Finland arrived at Halifax and laid fresh flowers at the grave. “This is our baby,” says Magda Schleifer, 68, a banker. She grew up hearing stories about a great aunt named Maria Panula, 42, who had sailed on the Titanic for America to be reunited with her husband. According to the information Mrs. Schleifer had gathered, Maria gave up her seat on a lifeboat to search for her five children -- including a 13-month-old boy named Eino, from whom she had become separated during the final minutes of the crossing. "We thought they were all lost in the sea," says Schleifer.
Now, using the teeth and bone pieces taken from the baby's grave, scientists have compared the DNA from the unknown child with those collected from members of five families who lost relatives on the Titanic and never recovered the bodies. The result of the test points only to one possible person: young Eino. Now, the family sees no need for a new grave. "He belongs to the people of Halifax," says Schleifer. "They've taken care of him for 100 years."The baby travelled on the Titanic with his_______.
| A．mother | B．parents | C．aunt | D．relatives |
What is probably the boy's last name?
| A．Schleiferi | B．Eino. | C．Magda. | D．Panula. |
Some members of the family went to Halifax and put flowers at the child's grave on Nov. 5 _______.
| A．1912 | B．1954 | C．2012 | D．2004 |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word recover?
| A．uncover | B．find | C．bury | D．gather |
This text is mainly about how______________.
| A．the unknown baby's body was taken from the north Atlantic |
| B．the unknown baby was buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| C．people found out who the unknown baby was |
| D．people took care of the unknown baby for 100 years |