The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. For centuries it kept the America from being discovered by the people of Europe.
Many wrong ideas about the Atlantic made early sailors unwilling to sail far out into it. One idea was that it reached out to “the edge of the world” . Sailors were afraid that they might sail off the earth. Another idea was that at the equator(赤道) the ocean would be boiling hot.
The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the Pacific, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. Even at its narrowest it is about 2,00 miles (3,200 km) wide.
Two things make the Atlantic Ocean rather unusual. For so large an ocean it has few islands. Also, it is the world’s saltiest ocean.
There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. But suppose no more rain fell into it and no more water was brought to it by rivers, it would take the ocean about more than 4,000 years to dry up. On the average, the water is a little more than two miles (3.2km) deep, but in some places it is much deeper. The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico. This “deep” measures 30,246 feet---almost six miles (9.6km).
One of the longest mountain ranges of the world rises from the floor of the Atlantic. This mountain range runs north and south down the middle of the ocean. The tops of a few of the mountains reach up above the sea and make islands.
Several hundred miles eastward from Florida there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Here the water is quiet, for there is little wind. In the days of sailing vessels(船) the crew were afraid they would be becalmed (can’t move) here. Sometimes they were.
Today the Atlantic is a great highway. It is, however, not always a smooth and safe one. Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves. Icebergs float down from the far North across the paths of ships.
We now have such fast ways of traveling that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller. Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it. A fast modern steamship can make the trip in less than four days. Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from South America to Africa in four!
61. What caused people to be unwilling to explore the Atlantic?
A. There were no ships big enough to get across the Ocean.
B. Sailors were afraid of being lost in the Ocean.
C. The Atlantic Ocean was very unusual because it has few islands and the saltiest water.
D. Many incorrect ideas such as “the edge of the world”, “the equator with boiling hot water” made people think the Ocean was full of danger.
62. What is the main idea of the fifth paragraph?
A. How deep the water is.
B. How to measure the water in the Atlantic.
C. How much water the ocean holds.
D. How rain affects the Ocean water.
63. What does the underlined word “highway” mean?
A. High road B. Broad way C. Fast road D. Main water way
64. Why does the writer think “this big ocean seems to have grown smaller”?
A. The water in the ocean is becoming less.
B. We have more and more advanced traveling tools now
C. The distance between the ocean and us is shorter.
D. The steamship has a higher speed.
The following are four kinds of medicine. How to use the medicine is very important. Never take some by mistake.
| Take the medicine with water, followed by one tablet every eight hours, as required. For further nighttime and early morning, take two tablets at bedtime. Do not take more than six tablets in 24 hours. For children between six and twelve years old, give half the adult dosage（剂量）. For children under six years old, go to your doctor for advice. Reduce dosage if nervousness, restlessness or sleeplessness takes place. |
| Each pill of the medicine taken three times every day for fourteen-year- olds. As usual, a pill at 6:00a.m. before breakfast, one before 11:00 and one before sleep. Not for children under six years old and old persons with heart attack. |
| The medicine for a person with a fever. Once two pills a day before sleep for adults. Don’t take the medicine without fever. Half for children under 12 years old. For children with a high fever, go to see a doctor at once. |
| The medicine taken three times a day, once five pills for adults with a cold. Half of the pills for children under 14 years old. Take the medicine before breakfast, lunch, supper or before sleep. |
If a little child under six has a fever, it’s suggested that he ________.
| A．take two tablets before sleep | B．stop to take another pill |
| C．take one tablet before sleep | D．go to see a doctor |
Obviously a kind of medicine mentioned above isn’t proper for ________, judging from the information.
| A．children over twelve years old | B．some adults of 18 years old |
| C．some old persons with heart attack | D．neither adults nor children |
When an adult has a cold, he had better __________.
| A．have as many as fifteen pills a day | B．have twice a day |
| C．have four times a day | D．have nine pills a day |
How many kinds of medicine can be taken by children of seven years old?
| A．Two kinds. | B．Three kinds. | C．None. | D．Four kinds. |
When I was quite young, I discovered that somewhere inside the telephone lived an amazingperson - "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know.
One day while my mother was out, I hit my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there was no one home to give me any sympathy. I walked around the house, finally arriving at the telephone! Quickly, I called “Information Please" and told her what happened.She told me to open the icebox and hold a little piece of ice to my finger.
After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. When my pet bird died, I told "Information Please" the sad story. She tried to comfort me, she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better.Another day I was on the telephone, “How do you spell ‘grateful’? ". All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was 9, we moved to Boston.
A few years later, on my way to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour or so between planes. Without thinking, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information, please."
Surprisingly, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well, "Information." I hadn’t planned on this but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell ‘grateful’?"
There was a long pause. Then came the soft-spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."I laughed. "So it’s really still you," I said, "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time."I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and asked if I could call her again. "Please do," she said, "Just ask for Sally."
Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered me. I was told that Sally passed away five weeks before.
Before I could hang up she told me that Sally left a message for me—“Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He’ll know what I mean.”I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.
Never underestimate the impression you may make on others. Whose life have you touched today? What does “Information, Please” refer to in the passage?
| A．An amazing girl. |
| B．A special kind of telephone. |
| C．A communication system. |
| D．A service that helps telephone users. |
What happened to the little boy one day when he was at home alone?
| A．He was amused by the telephone. |
| B．He hurt his finger with a hammer. |
| C．He found an amazing telephone. |
| D．He got a piece of ice from an icebox. |
What did “Information, Please” give the little boy whenever he was in trouble?
| A．Information and conversation. |
| B．Good memories and happiness. |
| C．Sympathy and information. |
| D．Friendship and cheers. |
When did the author get in touch with “Information, Please” again after he moved to Boston?
| A．When he was in trouble on his way to college. |
| B．When his plane stopped in Seattle for half an hour. |
| C．When he went back to Seattle to visit his sister. |
| D．Three months later after he moved to Boston. |
Welcome to Cöteborg University
Cöteborg University is one of Sweden’s largest and most popular universities.
We are very proud of this and believe that there are several reasons for our popularity. The principal reasons we believe to be the high quality of our education and research and the broad range of courses that we offer. In addition to this, Cöteborg University provides an attractive and exceptionally（格外的）high-standard study environment. Most parts of the university are situated in the city centre and this enriches city life as well as student life.
Cöteborg has a lot to offer its students: it has a rich and varied cultural life with many theatres, concerts and festivals. For those looking for outdoor life, forests and vast recreation（娱乐）areas are not far away from the city centre; the sea and the archipelago（群岛）are also within easy reach. Industry and commerce are expanding, and have a joint interest with the University in meeting the ever-changing and growing demands of society.
Cöteborg University strives（努力）to be an attractive choice for students from all over the world.
We look forward to welcoming you to Cöteborg University.The main reasons for Cöteborg University’s popularity according to the passage is ______ .
| A．the high quality education and research and the wide range of courses |
| B．the convenient traffic |
| C．its excellent location and fast developing economical environment |
| D．famous professors and friendly students |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The university is in the city centre. |
| B．The students can live outdoor. |
| C．The cultural life of the university is very rich. |
| D．The University has no interest in growing demands of society. |
What’s the main purpose of this passage?
| A．To bring fame to Cöteborg University. |
| B．To introduce the wonderful cultural life in Cöteborg University. |
| C．To declare Cöteborg University’s goal and interest. |
| D．To attract students all over the world to apply for Cöteborg University. |
Down on the beach of Dover, 56-year-old Channel swimmer Jackie Cobell bravely set off for Calais. The time was 6:40 am. 28 hours and 44 minutes later the exhausted, successful mother from Kent crawled (爬行) to the shore and walked proudly into the record books. After five years in training, Mrs Cobell became the slowest person to cross the Channel under her own steam. The previous record for the slowest crossing, set by Henry Sullivan at 26 hours and 50 minutes, has stood for 87 years before Mrs Cobell started at Dover Saturday morning.
She had struggled through changing tides that swept her first one way, then the other. It turned the 21-mile crossing into a 65-mile one. She declared, “Time and tide wait for no man—and they certainly didn’t wait for me. I was fully expecting it to get dark before I got to Calais but I never imagined I’d also see the dawn again. But I wasn’t going to give up.”
Her feat(壮举) raised more than $2,000 in charity sponsorship for research into Huntingdon’s disease, a sum that was continuing to grow as news of her achievement spread. That was why she did it. “I don’t really know myself,” she said. “ I just kept thinking of all the people I’d be letting down if I stopped.”
Mrs Cobell took to the water so well at school. But after bringing up two daughters, she started to gain weight. Five years ago she took up swimming again and decided to prepare for the Channel challenge to lose weight. She became much fitter. Then came the big swim. “I practiced on Windermere lake,” she said. “it’s about half the distance of the Channel so I just double
d it, added some extra time, and worked out I could probably get to Calais in about 16 hours.”
Her husband David, trainer, official observer and friend sailed alongside her on a boat. She said, “I sang to keep myself going. When they told me I was a record breaker I thought they were just having a joke—until I realized it was the record for the slowest crossing. But maybe next time I might be a bit quicker.”According to Paragraph 1, Mrs Cobell_____________.
| A．started to learn swimming five years ago |
| B．arrived at Calais on late Sunday morning |
| C．wanted to break the record for the slowest crossing |
| D．was too exhausted to move after crossing the Channel |
Why did Mrs Cobell spend so much time crossing the Channel?
| A．Because the tides changed her direction. |
| B．Because she was not in good condition. |
| C．Because she wasn’t good at swimming. |
| D．Because the winds kept her from swimming fast. |
Mrs Cobell crossed the Channel for the main purpose of____________.
| A．taking a risk |
| B．losing more weight |
| C．raising money for charity |
| D．becoming famous worldwide |
How did Mrs Cobell feel about the record she set?
| A．Dissatisfied | B．Excited | C．Annoyed | D．Proud |
For about three years now, I have been writing poetry. It was not until my junior year in high school that I developed an interest, love and skill for writing poetry.
Back in elementary school, I loved to write stories. I would write stories on post-it notes and anywhere I could. Yet when I had to write a limerick(五行打油诗) for an assignment, I could not wrap my head around poetry. I had a very hard time figuring out how to rhyme words and have the words make sense. I eventually tossed the paper with the attempted limerick in the trash. I did not try my hand at poetry again until several years later.
Many years later in my freshman year of high school, my English teacher gave my class a poetry project as an assignment. I still remember my limerick assignment and was afraid of doing the poetry project. For the project, we had to analyze a poem and write a response to it. I chose to respond to Robert Frost’s poem Fire and Ice. I also wrote my own poem first. I became really excited when writing the poem.
Two years later, I started writing poetry as a hobby and for fun. To learn how good or bad my poems were, I handed them in to some magazines and contests. I won second place in the North Carolina Poetry Society’s Sherry Pruitt Award Contest with a poem called The Ocean, and had my two poems published as high merit(优等) poems. I have continued to write poetry, and have even self-published three collections of poetry in both print and e-book formats, which can be found at my store on Lulu.
Now, I love writing poetry, but I don’t hate writing short stories. I just find it more difficult and not my style of writing, even though I still write short stories occasionally.When the author was a pupil, he ___________.
| A．liked writing stories |
| B．was good at writing poetry |
| C．could understand poetry well |
| D．was often praised by his teacher |
When given the poetry project in high school, the author was___________.
| A．excited | B．annoyed | C．confident | D．worried |
The author took up writing poetry as a hobby when he____________.
| A．was in Grade Three in high school |
| B．worked as a storekeeper |
| C．was in Grade One in high school |
D．was at college |
How did the author increase his confidence in writing poetry?
| A．He wrote a lot of poems and asked advice from his teacher. |
| B．He published three collections of poetry by himself. |
| C．He submitted his poems to magazines and contests. |
| D．He gave up writing stories and only wrote poetry. |