A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics and war. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books.
In history books, objective (客观的) information about the political life of a country is presented; that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective: it reflects emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya was perhaps the first truly “political” artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May, 1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its abuse of power over people.
In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art had been almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that described people and stories from the Bible. Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand the Bible stories in the pictures on church walls. By contrast (对比), one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic belief that statues are not holy.
Which of the following statements has the closest meaning to the underlined sentence?
| A．General history only focuses on politics. |
| B．Art history shows us nothing but the political values. |
| C．General history concerns only religious beliefs, emotions and psychology. |
| D．Art history gives us an insight (洞察力) into the essential qualities of a time and a place. |
Art is subjective in that __________.
| A．it can easily arouse people’s anger about their government |
| B．it only reflects people’s anger or sadness about social problems. |
| C．a personal and emotional view of history is presented through it. |
| D．artists were or are religious, who reflect only the religious aspect of the society. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Francisco Goya expressed his religious belief in his painting. |
| B．In history books political views of people are entirely presented. |
| C．For centuries in Europe, painters had only painted on walls of churches. |
| D．In the Middle East, you can hardly find animal or human figures on church walls. |
What’s the main topic of the passage?
| A．The development of art history. |
| B．What we can learn from art. |
| C．The influence of artists on art history. |
| D．The difference between general history and art history. |
I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could have never passed botany. This was because all botany students had to spend several hours a week in a laboratory looking through a microscope at plant cells, and I could never once see a cell through a microscope. This used to make my professor angry. He would wander around the laboratory pleased with the progress all the students were making in drawing the structure of flower cells, until he came to me. I would just be standing there. “I can’t see anything,” I would say. He would begin patiently enough, explaining how anybody can see through a microscope, but he would always end up angrily, claiming that I could too see through a microscope but just pretended that I couldn’t. “It takes away from the beauty of flowers anyway.” I used to tell him. “We are not concerned with beauty in this course,” he would say. “We are concerned with the structure of flowers.” “Well,” I’d say. “I can’t see anything.” “Try it just once again,” he’d say, and I would put my eye to the microscope and see nothing at all, except now and again something unclear and milky. “You were supposed to see a clear, moving plant cells shaped like clocks.” “I see what looks like a lot of milk.” I would tell him. This, he claimed, was the result of my not having adjusted the microscope properly, so he would readjust it for me, or rather, for himself. And I would look again and see milk.
I failed to pass botany that year, and had to wait a year and try again, or I couldn’t graduate. The next term the same professor was eager to explain cell-structure again to his classes. “Well,” he said to me, happily, “we’re going to see cells this time, aren’t we?” “Yes, sir,” I said. Students to the right of me and to the left of me and in front of me were seeing cells; what’s more, they were . Of course, I didn’t see anything.
So the professor and I tried with every adjustment of the microscope known to man. With only once did I see anything but blackness or the familiar milk, and that time I saw, to my pleasure and amazement, something like stars. These I hurriedly drew. The professor, noting my activity, came to me, a smile on his lips and his eyebrows high in hope. He looked at my cell drawing. “What’s that?” he asked. “That’s what I saw,” I said. “You didn’t, you didn’t, you didn’t!” he screamed, losing control of himself immediately, and he bent over and looked into the microscope. He raised his head suddenly. “That’s your eye!” he shouted. “You’ve adjusted the microscope so that it reflects! You’ve drawn your eye!”Why couldn’t the writer see the flower cells through the microscope?
| A．Because he had poor eyesight. |
| B．Because the microscope didn’t work properly. |
| C．Because he was not able to adjust the microscope properly. |
| D．Because he was just playing jokes on his professor by pretending not to have seen it. |
What does the writer mean by “his eyebrows high in hope” in the last paragraph?
| A．His professor expected him to have seen the cells and drawn the picture of them. |
| B．His professor hoped he could perform his task with attention. |
| C．His professor wished him to learn how to draw pictures. |
| D．His professor looked forward to seeing all his students finish their drawings. |
What is the thing like stars that the writer saw in the last paragraph?
| A．Real stars | B．His own eye |
| C．Something unknown | D．Milk |
In what writing style did the writer write the passage?
| A．Realistic | B．Romantic |
| C．Serious | D．Humorous |
Some say college is wasted on the young. So many of us look back at our own college years and realize what we could have done differently to make the most of them. While we can’t go back, we certainly can offer our sons and daughters our best advice to help them make the right choices in college. Hopefully, they will have fewer regrets than we do. Following are five guidelines parents can share with their college-bound kids to put the whole experience in perspective.
EDUCATION IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY
As soon as you arrive on campus, there will be competing interests. Feel free to check them out but always remember that you are there first and foremost for your education. Go to class prepared and on time. Be engaged during class. Make sure your professor knows you and realizes that you care.
BE RESPONSIBLE
There are many layers of responsibility. Do what you say you will do and, if you can’t, confess it early and communicate clearly. But being responsible isn’t just about meeting your commitments; it is also about taking care of you, your body, and your friends. For example, more than 1800 college students die annually from alcohol-related injuries. Look out for yourself and other people. Make moderate, sensible decisions so you aren’t reeling from(受…影响) the consequences later.
TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY
Incredible opportunities will present themselves: studying abroad, interning at a unique place, trying new things. Don’t let fear prevent you from taking advantage of them. There may never be so much time or as many resources devoted to your betterment again in your life. Say yes to opportunities that will help you grow.
FIND AND BE A MENTOR
Some of the best lessons available to us can come outside of the classroom in the form of a mentor(良师益友). One of the most powerful growth opportunities is being a mentor. Early on, find someone on campus who you feel can help you grow and develop a relationship with him or her. Also find someone for you to mentor. You will reinforce and enrich your own learning experience by teaching someone else.
GET THE JOB DONE
It is natural to occasionally feel you want to quit, when it makes more sense to you to go find a full-time job. Resist that urge. As Jocelyn Negron-Rios, a mother of two, who is currently completing her degree, advises, “No matter how difficult it seems, keep at it because however insurmountable（不可克服的） it feels now multiply that by 10,000 and that is how it feels when you are in your thirties with a full-time job and a family and are trying to pursue a degree.”According to the passage, the most important thing for college students is ______.
| A．taking part in different activities |
| B．working hard to get a degree |
| C．seizing every chance to try new things |
| D．improving themselves by learning from the others |
Which of the following about college life is true?
| A．Passing on what you’ve learned in college can help you enrich your learning experience. |
| B．Make sure that you are responsible for yourself rather than others. |
| C．Professors will not assess your performances in class but the grades you get in exams. |
| D．You can make full use of the opportunity whenever you want. |
What can we infer from the words said by Jocelyn in the last paragraph?
| A．Persistence is the key to success when you meet with difficulties in your learning process. |
| B．It is better if you gain more working experience before you finish your education. |
| C．As long as you work hard, you can gain a degree even when you are in your thirties. |
| D．Youth is the best time to learn since you have less burden. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To give some rules for the college students. |
| B．To call on the students to make full use of college years. |
| C．To summarize some tips for parents to share with their children. |
| D．To analyze the benefits and difficulties of college life. |
Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.
Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.
There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.
There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime（消遣）, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food．What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.
The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steering them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.According to the text, what kind of children may eat more unhealthy food?
| A．Those who often take exercise. |
| B．Those who often watch television. |
| C．Those who often have meals at home. |
| D．Those who often walk to school. |
The author thinks that children are becoming overweight because .
| A．their parents often cook meals for them |
| B．they are too busy to go out and play |
| C．they can' t choose what to eat |
| D．there are too many fast food shops around |
The word "steering" underlined in the last sentence most probably means _______.
| A．forcing | B．guiding |
| C．driving | D．moving |
The main purpose of the text is to _________.
| A．tell a story | B．provide facts |
| C．give advice | D．compare opinions |
It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.
The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries（食品杂货），saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.
I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.
People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity（人性）as a whole. And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.Why was the bike so important to the couple?
| A．They used it for work and daily life. |
| B．It was their only possession. |
| C．It was a nice Kona 18 speed. |
| D．The man’s job was bike racing. |
We can infer from the text that ____________.
| A．the couple worked 60 hours a week. |
| B．people were busy before Christmas |
| C．the stranger brought over the bike |
| D．life was hard for the young family. |
What do the couple learn from their experience?
| A．Strangers are usually of little help. |
| B．One should take care of their bike. |
| C．News reports make people famous. |
| D．An act of kindness can mean a lot. |
Why play games? Because they are fun, and a lot more besides. Following the rules…planning your next move...acting as a team member…these are all “game” ideas that you will come across throughout your life.
Think about some of the games you played as a young child, such as rope-jumping and hide-and-seek. Such games are entertaining and fun. But perhaps more importantly, they translate life into exciting dramas that teach children some of the basic rules they will be expected to follow the rest of their lives, such as taking turns and cooperating (合作) .
Many children’s games have a practical side. Children around the world play games that prepare them for work they will do as grown-ups. For instance, some Saudi Arabian children play a game called bones. Which sharpens the hand-eye coordination（协调）needed in hunting.
Many sports encourage national or local pride. The most famous games of all, the Olympic Games, bring athletes from around the world together to take part in friendly competition. People who watch the event wave flags, knowing that a gold medal is a win for an entire country, not just the athlete who earned it. For countries experiencing natural disasters or war, an Olympic win can mean so much.
Sports are also an event that unites people. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. People on all continents play it—some for fun and some for a living. Nicolette Iribarne, a Californian soccer player, has discovered a way to give people hope through soccer. He created a foundation(基金会) to provide poor children with not only soccer balls but also a promising future.
Next time you play your favorite game or sport, think about why you enjoy it, what skills are needed, and whether these skills will help you in other aspects of your life. Through playing hide-and-seek, children are expected to learn to ________.
| A．be a team leader | B．obey the basic rules |
| C．act as a grown-up | D．predict possible danger |
The underlined part in Paragraph 2 most probably means that games can________.
| A．describe life in an exciting way |
| B．turn real-life experiences into a play |
| C．make learning life skills more interesting |
| D．change people’s views of sporting events |
According to the passage, why is winning Olympic medals so encouraging?
| A．It makes people have a deep love for the country. |
| B．It proves the exceptional skills of the winners. |
| C．It helps the country out of natural disasters. |
| D．It earns the winners fame and fortune. |
Iribarne’s goal of forming the foundation is to _______.
| A．bring fun to poor kids |
| B．provide soccer balls for children |
| C．give poor kids a chance for a better life |
| D．appeal to soccer players to help poor kids |
What can be learned from the passage?
| A．Games benefit people all their lives. |
| B．Sports can get all athletes together. |
| C．People are advised to play games for fun. |
| D．Sports increase a country’s competitiveness. |