B
About forty years ago, I was an instructor in the military academy at Woolwich, when young Scoresby was given his first examination. Everybody answered the questions well, intelligently, while he—why, dear me—he did not know anything, so to speak. It was painful to see him stand there and give answers that were miracles(奇迹) of stupidity.
I took him aside and found he knew a little about Julius Ceasar’s history. So, I worked him like a slave on a few questions about Ceasar. If you will believe me, when examined again, he was asked no questions but those I made him study. Such an accident does not happen more than once in a hundred years. Well, all through his studies, I stood by him, with the feeling a mother has for a disabled child. And he always saved himself by some miracle.
Then, the Crimean War broke out. Nervously, I waited for the worst to happen. It did. He was appointed an officer. Who could have dreamed that they would place such a responsibility on such weak shoulders as his! I said to myself that I was responsible to the country for this. I must go with him and protect the nation against him as far as I could. So, I joined up with him.
And there, oh dear, he never did anything but mistakes. But, everybody misunderstood his stupid mistakes as works of great intelligence. The battle grew hotter. The English soldiers were steadily withdrawing all over the field. An order came for him to fall back and support our right. Instead, he moved forward and went over the hill to the left. We were over the hill before this crazy movement could be discovered and stopped. And what did we find? A large and unsuspected Russian army waiting! But those surprised Russians thought that no single team by itself would come around there at such a time. It must be the whole British army. They turned tail, away they went over the hill and down into the field in wild disorder, and we after them. In no time, there was the greatest turn around you ever saw.
Until now, nobody knew it but Scoresby and myself. He has filled his whole military life with mistakes, every one of which brought him another honorary title. They are proof that the best thing that can happen to a man is to be born lucky.
46. How was Scoresby doing academically?
A. His answers to the questions were miracles.
B. He was good at military history.
C. He received help because of his disability.
D. He did rather poorly in his study.
47. “I” join up with Scoresby in the Crimean War because “I” ________.
A. wanted to see the worst happen
B. had no confidence in him
C. liked to fight against Scoresby
D. wanted to protect my student
48. Why did the Russian army flee?
A. Because Scoresby mistook his left hand for his right hand.
B. Because Scoresby failed to recognize the direction.
C. Because they thought the whole British army were coming.
D. Because they wanted to go down into the field.
49. What is the secret of Scoresby’s military “success”?
A. Good luck. B. Hard work. C. Help from others . D. Mistakes.
50. The tone(语调) of the passage is _____________.
A. Relaxing B. Encouraging C. Sarcastic(讽刺的) D. Humorous
For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of their time alone. They're called latchkey children, They're children who look after themselves while their parents work outside. Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of the kids bed chains around their necks with keys attached. 1 was often telling them to put them inside their shirts. There were so many keys that it never came to my mind what they meant.” Slowly , she learned they were house keys.
She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the effect working parents had on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by the children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to are reported to be scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.
The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall under a bed, in a closet. The second is TV. They’ll often play it at high volume.
It ‘s hard to get numbers on latchkey children and most patents are slow to admit they leave their children alone.
| A．are growing in numbers |
| B．suffer problems from being left alone |
| C．watch too much TV during the day |
| D．are also found in middle schools |
| A．tiredness | B．freedom |
| C．loneliness | D．fear |
| A．We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. |
| B．A lot of kids had chains around their necks. |
| C．I was often telling them to put their keys inside their shirts. |
| D．She learned the chains around their necks were house keys. |
| A．night suit | B．night habit |
| C．terrible dreams at night | D．staying up at night |
| A．latchkey children enjoy being left alone |
| B．latchkey children try to hide their feeling |
| C．latchkey children often watch TV with their parents |
| D．it's difficult to find out how many latchkey children there |
One afternoon after school had finished , Peter and Jane were walking along the street. Suddenly they heard a big noise.
“Come on” shouted Peter.“That sounds like an accident. Let’ see what’s happened.”
They ran to where the noise came from. As soon as they got there, they could see what had happened. A small car had knocked into the side of a truck. The accident had happened in a quiet street with only four houses in it. Peter and Jane were the first ones to reach the site. No other people came.“We must be the only ones who saw the accident,” said Jane. They found that both the car driver and the truck driver were hurt.
“Peter,” said Jane,“ Run back down the road to Mrs Day’s house. Ask her to call the policemen and the ambulance. Hurry. I’ll stay here.”
Off went Peter as fast as he could. There was nothing Jane could do but wait. She knew that when people were hurt in an accident, they shouldn’t be moved. It wasn’t long before the police car and the ambulance arrived. The policeman got the car door open and they carried the man out. Then they got the truck driver out. The men weren’t seriously hurt, but they were both taken to the hospital. The policemen thanked Peter and Jane, “You were very good to act so quickly when you saw the accident. Thank you for all your help.”
| A．in a quiet street one school day afternoon |
| B．in a busy street one school day afternoon |
| C．in a quiet street one Sunday after noon |
| D．in a busy street one Sunday afternoon |
| A．Only Peter |
| B．Peter and Jane |
| C．Peter, Jane and Mrs Day |
| D．Peter , Jane, Mrs Day and the policemen |
| A．Only the car driver was hurt |
| B．Only the truck driver was hurt |
| C．Neither of the two drivers was hurt |
| D．Both the drivers were hurt |
| A．Jane | B．The drivers |
| C．Mrs Day | D．Peter |
| A．she was too frightened to do anything |
| B．she was alone after Peter left |
| C．she was waiting for Peter. |
| D．she knew she shouldn’t move the two drivers. |
About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn’t help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked, “So, how have you been?” And the boy who could not have been more than seven or eight years old replied, “Frankly, I’ve been feeling a little depressed lately.”
This incident stuck in my mind because it strengthened my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn’t find out we were “depressed” until we were in high school.
The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don’t seem childlike any more. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?
Human development is based not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new situation. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation machine has been fixed in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information, indiscriminately, to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practised. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world _________ .
| A．through touch with society |
| B．gradually and under guidance |
| C．naturally and by biological instinct |
| D．through exposure to social information |
In the author’s opinion, the phenomenon that today’s children seem adult like is caused by _____.
| A．the widespread influence of television |
| B．the poor arrangement of teaching content |
| C．the fast step of human intellectual development |
| D．the constantly rising standard of living |
Why is the author in favor of communication through print for children?
| A．It enables children to gain more social information. |
| B．It develops children’s interest in reading and writing. |
| C．It helps children to memorize and practise more. |
| D．It can control what children are to learn. |
What does the author think of the change in today’s children?
| A．He feels amused by the children’s adultlike behavior. |
| B．He thinks it is a phenomenon worthy of note. |
| C．He considers it a positive development. |
| D．He seems to be upset about it. |
As the new semester begins，millions of college students across the country are trying hard to remember how best to write a paper-or，more likely，how best to delay that paper．
Procrastination is the thief of time and a lot of students suffer from it．They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space，eating snacks，surfing the Internet，watching videos and looking at their pretty peers sitting around them，who，most likely，are doing nothing either．
Paralyzed by their habit to procrastinate，they write micro blogs about their fears，asking their online friends if they sometimes have the same issue．But this does nothing to solve their problems．
According to a recent report by the BBC，95 percent of us procrastinate at some point and 20 percent of the world’s population are procrastinators，complicating their lives with their continual delaying of tasks．
Procrastinators like to find excuses to justify their behavior，but BBC columnist Rowan Pelling says they are all wrong．Many procrastinators tell themselves they are perfectionists who work best under pressure．Pelling says this is nonsense，as work done at the last minute is more likely to have mistakes than work done on time．
She says the behavior of procrastinators often makes them feel flustered and ashamed，inconveniences others，and annoys loved ones．
Fortunately，social scientists have made tireless efforts to understand this behavioral shortcoming and offer strategies to control it．Piers Steel，a Canadian social scientist and author of The Procrastination Equation，believes humankind is“designed”to procrastinate．Nevertheless，he suggests a couple of good ways to get through the task at hand．
The first one is obvious：Break the task down into small pieces and work your way through them methodically．
The second is clever：Give a trusted friend a sum of money and tell them that if you don’t complete the task you have undertaken by a specific time，they can keep it or donate it to a cause you hate.What does the underlined word“Procrastination” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．A bad habit of putting work or tasks off． |
| B．A thief who steals time and money in college. |
| C．A college student who learns nothing． |
| D．A study way of doing nothing in the library. |
According to Rowan Pelling，we can learn that procrastinators .
| A．can find reasonable excuses for their behavior |
| B．are able to work best under pressure |
| C．are more likely to avoid mistakes at work[] |
| D．may upset themselves and their loved ones more frequently |
Which of the following may Piers Steel support?
| A．Human beings are not born to be procrastinators． |
| B．Complete your tasks or work step by step． |
| C．Give your trusted friend money and ask him to help you finish your tasks． |
| D．You can’t control procrastination but you can avoid it． |
What’she best title of the text?
| A．Who steals my time? |
| B．The solutions to procrastination |
| C．I’ll do it tomorrow，I swear! |
| D．Don’t do nothing! |
Google has been collecting tons of data about smartphone usage around the world.Here are some of the most surprising and interesting facts：
Android is most popular in Japan, with 55% of respondents(调查对象) using it, compared with 39% for iOS. Android is also number one in a few other countries, including New Zealand (41%), the US(40%), and China (38%)．
iOS is farthest ahead in Switzerland, with 52% usage vs 23% for Android.Other countries where iOS is far ahead include Australia (49% vs 25% Android), Canada (45% vs 23% Android and 23% Blackberry), and France (43% vs 25% Android)．
In Egypt, Windows Mobile is far more popular than iOS.13% of survey respondents use the Microsoft smartphone platform, behind Symbian (19%) and Android (14%). iOS is very far down at 4%.
Mobile social networking is biggest in Mexico and Argentina, where 74% and 73% of users visit a social network daily. But mobile social is weak in Japan where 34% of users never visit a social network on their phone, and this figure rises to 41% in Brazil.
Watching video is most popular in Saudi Arabia, with 59% of respondents doing it daily. Number two is Egypt, with 41%.
Chinese users shop from their phones.59% of Chinese users do this, compared with only 41% in second place Egypt. Chinese users also love to write reviews.41% of them write a review of a local business after looking it up on their smartphone. Number two, Japan, is far behind, with only 24% of respondents doing this.Which of the following best describes the usage of the smartphone operating systems in Egypt?
| A．Windows Mobile＞iOS＞Symbian＞Android |
| B．Android＞Windows Mobile＞iOS＞Symbian |
| C．iOS＞Android＞Symbian＞Windows Mobile |
| D．Symbian＞Android＞Windows Mobile＞iOS |
In which of the following countries is mobile social networking least popular?
| A．Brazil. | B．Japan. | C．Mexico. | D．Argentina. |
In which section of a newspaper can we most probably read the passage?
| A．Health. | B．Environment. |
| C．Technology. | D．Entertainment. |