About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his shiny, black, Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.
He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child came out, but a brick sailed out and — WHUMP! — it hit the Jag’s shiny black side door! SCREECH...!!!! Immediately Josh stopped the car, jumped out, seized the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. “That’s my new car. That brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"
"Please, mister, please....I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!" begged the boy. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" Tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car. "It’s my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled of the curb (路沿) and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up. "Sobbing, the boy asked the businessman," Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words, the young businessman tried hard to swallow (咽下) the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapers and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to the black, shining Jaguar XKE — a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you.
The boy threw a brick at the businessman’s car because ____________.
| A．the businessman drove at a high speed | B．he envied the new car very much |
| C．he wanted to ask for some money | D．he wanted to get help from the driver |
Which of the following is the right order of the story?
a. The younger brother threw a brick at Josh’s car. b. The elder brother fell out of his wheelchair.
c. The younger brother begged Josh for help.
d. Josh lifted the elder brother back into his wheelchair. e. Josh shouted at the younger brother.
| A．b, a, e, c, d | B．a, c, d, b, e | C．b, a, c, e, d | D．a, c, b, e, d |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Josh would accept the money from the kids. | B．The two kids were Josh’s neighbors. |
| C．Josh was a kind-hearted man. | D．Josh’s new car broke down easily. |
According to the passage, the underlined sentence in the last paragraph means ____________.
| A．trying to get ready for the trouble in your future life |
| B．driving fast in a neighborhood street is dangerous |
| C．trying to be more understanding seeing others in trouble |
| D．protecting oneself from being hurt |
Two thieves came to a house to steal something. They dug a hole in the wall of the house.
There lived many mice in the house. The woman in the moonlight saw a mouse crawl into the house.“Look！In comes one，”she said to the man in the house. The thief was so frightened that he hurriedly crawled out of the house and said to the one waiting outside，“She found me when I was just in.” But the thief outside didn’t believe him，so he said，“Let us two try to crawl into the house together.”At that time two mice happened to crawl into the house，too. The woman saw the mice and shouted，“In come two，catch them！” The two thieves were terribly frightened. The man in the house said，“You saw them come in but where are they？ I will catch them tonight.”The two thieves started running away at once.
The two thieves wanted to make it clear whether they had been found or not the night before. The next day they acted as men selling sweet potatoes and came before the house. The man and the woman were ploughing in their fields. The rein（缰绳）broke and the woman came home for a rope. She saw two men selling sweet potatoes and wanted to buy some. She picked out two which looked like mice. At the time the man couldn’t wait for her any longer in the fields and he ran back from the fields to hurry her up. The woman showed the sweet potatoes to the man and said，“How they look like the two of last night.”The man said，“I asked you to fetch a rope，why don’t you hurry for it？”The two thieves ran away quickly without their sweet potatoes.The two thieves failed to steal anything from the house because______.
| A．they were found out |
| B．they were frightened by what they had heard in the house |
| C．they didn’t work together well with each other |
| D．mice stopped them from doing so |
From the last paragraph，we know that ______.
| A．the two thieves were famous selling sweet potatoes |
| B．the woman recognized the two thieves |
| C．the woman pretended to know nothing about the two thieves and made fun of them |
| D．the two thieves didn’t know that they were not found at all |
“______”is the best title for this passage.
| A．Two Clever Thieves | B．Terrible Mice |
| C．Hit the Mark by a Fluke | D．A Clever Couple |
Which of the following statements is FALSE？
| A．The two thieves not only failed to steal things but also lost their sweet potatoes. |
| B．Whenever they found mice，the people in the house would try to catch them. |
| C．The two thieves ran away at once，because they thought the woman had seen them. |
| D．The man let the woman go home for a rope，which would be used for catching the thieves. |
Tourism probably started in Roman times. Rich Romans visited friends and family who were working in another part of the Roman empire. But when the empire broke down, this kind of tourism stopped.
In the early 17th century, the idea of the“Grand Tour”was born. Rich young English people sailed across the English Channel. They visited the most beautiful and important European cities of the time, including Paris in France, and Rome and Venice in Italy. Their tours lasted for two to four years, and the tourists stayed a few weeks or months in each city. The“Grand Tour”was an important part of young people’s education—but only for the rich.
In the 18th century, tourism began to change. For example, people in the UK started to visit some towns, such as Bath to“take the waters”.They believed that the water there was good for their health. So large and expensive hotels were built in these towns.
In the 19th century, travel became much more popular and faster. When the first railways were built in the 1820s,it was easier for people to travel between towns, so they started to go for holidays by the sea. And some started to have holidays in the countryside as cities became larger, noisier and dirtier.
Traveling by sea also became faster and safer when the first steamships were built. People began to travel more to far away countries.
The 20th century saw cars become more and more popular among ordinary people. Planes were made larger, so ticket prices dropped and more people used them.
Thus tourism grew. In 1949, Russian journalist Vladimir Raitz started a company called Horizon Holidays. The company organizes everything—plane tickets, hotel rooms, even food—and tourists pay for it all before they leave home. The package tour and modern tourist industry was born.
The first travel agency in China was set up as early as 1949.But tourism did not take off until 1978.In 2002,the industry was worth 500 billion Yuan and became an important part of China’s social development.In the early times, the travelers ________.
| A．all came from Roman | B．were very young and strong |
| C．had lots of money | D．traveled by boat |
________ played the most important role in the tourism development.
| A．Education | B．Money | C．Transportation | D．People’s ideas |
Modern tourism was born ________.
| A．in 1949 | B．in Roman times |
| C．in the early 17th century | D．in the 19th century |
The underlined phrase“take off”means ________.
| A．a plane rising into the air | B．develop very fast |
| C．remove hats and clothes | D．bring down the prices |
Alzheimer’s disease is a major national health problem. Nearly 2 million Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s disease. It is a leading cause of death among the elderly. But Alzheimer’s disease is not confined （限于） to the aged. There may be a million or more people under the age of 65 suffering from the disease.
At one time, people suffering from the disease were said to be“getting old”.The disease was thought to be a natural part of growing old, but it is now known that Alzheimer’s disease strikes young and old alike. It is an organic disease which destroys brain cells.
Alzheimer’s disease affects the patient’s memory, speech, and movement. In the beginning stages of the disease, the patient may seem slightly confused. He may have trouble speaking, then the patient’s memory begins to fail. He may forget dates, numbers, names and plans.
As the disease progresses, the patient may not recognize family and friends. These symptoms（症状） often cause terrible anxiety in the patient. He may feel lost and frightened. Sometimes the patient reacts with wild and bad behavior.
In the last stages of the disease, the patient may not be able to take care of himself. He may have lost the ability to speak and walk.
Scientists don’t know exactly what causes Alzheimer’s disease. It may be caused by a virus.It may be caused by a poisonous substance（物质） in the environment. At present, there is no cure for the disease. But there are ways to slow its progress. Exercise and physical treatment can help the patients of this disease.The main idea of the passage is that Alzheimer’s disease ________.
| A．is a terrible part of the aging process |
| B．is an organic disease that affects young and old |
| C．can be cured by physical treatment |
| D．causes forgetfulness |
All of the following are symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease EXCEPT________.
| A．forgetfulness | B．difficulty in speaking |
| C．loss of sight | D．loss of the ability to walk |
According to the passage, which of the following may be a cause of Alzheimer’s disease?
| A．Poisons produced by the brain. | B．Getting old. |
| C．A virus. | D．Lack of exercise. |
The progress of Alzheimer’s disease can be slowed by________.
| A．operation | B．a change in environment |
| C．medicines | D．physical treatment and exercise |
Becoming a fireman is a challenging and competitive job today. A fireman’s main duty is being scheduled according to the fighting and extinguishment(熄灭) of fire which definitely requires being a strong man, both mentally and physically.
The duty of a fireman involves protection of life and property of the public. They are the servicemen who are decisively selected by an organization to deal with situations like fire. The duty of a fireman intentionally consists of helping innocent people in their time of need. Such type of jobs is one of those few jobs where service is provided for people when they need help immediately. This may include rescuing people from a building at fire, providing them with medical facilities, extinguishing fire in a house or in a large commercial building. Serving people is the main intention of these professionals. The satisfaction which a fireman gets from this type of job cannot be compared to any other profession in the world.
Such profession demands top-level commitment and professionalism from .those who have chosen it as a career. Fireman should possess the highest level of courage and patience to put their lives in danger for the sake of others. They undergo lessons of maintaining patience for long hours and go through complete preparation to become successful and well-organized professional firemen. There are certain tests that are recommended before becoming a fireman.
It’s not that easy to become a fireman nowadays. A fireman is supposed to deal with unexpected situations, and they should be skilled at communicating with others and be self-disciplined at the same time.
In order to be a good fireman, one must undergo（经历、接受） strict local fire department’s training program after passing all the tests. All the fire departments conclude a two-to-four-month course, including classroom training and practical training that cover firefighting techniques, fire avoidance, dangerous materials and urgent situation medical actions. Completing this training, trainees go through the department’s trial period of service that can last from three to six months, depending on the methods of selection.
Firemen usually work both indoors and outdoors. They have to be on duty at all times and mostly work in shifts of at least 8 hours. They are also provided with several benefits which include medical aid plan, pension fund, annual leave and many more.
Title: Fireman
| Definition |
The servicemen decisively selected by an organization to |
| ● Helping innocent people ● Rescuing people from a building at-fire and providing them with medical facilities. ● |
|
| Requirements |
● Having top-level commitment and professionalism. ● Being courageous and ● Being strong both in body and ● Having good ● Being self-disciplined. |
| ● Firefighting techniques, fire avoidance, dangerous materials and urgent situation medical actions. ● The department’s trial period of service which possibly |
|
| Medical aid plans, pension fund, annual leave and many more. |
Her frozen fingers touched the flame trying to feel alive. She could feel the warmth but it was a cold heat, as if the candle was rejecting her.
Her arms turned red because of the cold, her short sleeved shirt not giving her enough warmth. The winter air grabbed(抓住) at her arms, causing her pain, but she didn’t mind. She knew she should put her jacket on, it was winter in Connecticut, but that would be giving up. Up here, in this tree she felt safe.
She looked at the candle, surrounded by hardening wax(蜡). She placed her fingers gently on the warm green wax. This candle was a reminder of her life inside that house, a life she would have to return to eventually.
As a child, she had gotten this candle. She spent all she had on it. The beautiful crystal box （水晶盒）had caught her eye. Five whole nickels（五分币） had brought her that candle.
She gave it to her mother for Mother’s Day. Her mother had managed a smile and put it on a shelf. “It’s very pretty, honey! I will put it right here.” Since then that candle had never been moved, never been lighted, sitting dusty on a cluttered shelf that no one could see. Later on, her parents got divorced.
By now the candle was colder than the air and the darkness was complete. The snow on the ground made the night lighter and less satisfying than it had been before the first snowfall. She liked the darkness because she felt safe in it. From the glances of her friends who liked the girl she used to be. From the boys who could never figure out who she was. From her guidance counselor(顾问) whose endless worried looks never made her feel any better.
No one was outside at this time of night. She was alone in the world, just how she liked it. Just as she was about to lean back against the branch, she heard a sound.
She heard footsteps breaking the ice in the snow, heading toward her. He was making his way toward the white fence at the edge of the building, right against the road. Normally she would have ignored this person and stayed on her branch faraway from human contact, but this figure had something with him. He trudged(吃力地走) toward the white fence carrying a case. The figure reached the fence, opened the case and took out a shiny object.
She took her eyes off this figure only long enough to climb down the tree to get a better view of him. She reached the bottom and saw that the person had turned to face the street, sitting on the white fence that she and her friends once sat on. She stepped carefully on the ice, making her way toward him.
And then a beautiful sound of music came from the shiny object. She stopped and listened to it. She started walking towards the guy again. Just as she was about to step onto the snow banks, she slipped on the ice crashing to the ground. The figure turned around in surprise and a sudden recognition fell upon them both.The girl was hiding in the tree at deep night to ______.
| A．keep herself from the cold | B．wait for the boy to come |
| C．want to be left alone | D．seek safety from any hurt |
From the story, we can learn that ______.
| A．the girl suffered a lot in her life |
| B．the girl’s parents divorced because of her |
| C．teachers and friends treated the girl badly |
| D．the girl used to stay in the tree when feeling sad |
The underlined word “it” in the story refers to ______.
| A．leaning back against the branch | B．being alone in the world |
| C．not being disturbed at night | D．it being dark with snow around |
From the end of the story, it can be known that the girl _______.
| A．knew the person | B．knew what the object was |
| C．realized her wishes | D．would never feel alone any more |