This is a story that happened in Europe in the 17th century. Tulips (郁金香) were introduced into Holland before the 17th century but it did not take long for the flowers to gain popularity among the upper classes. Flowers of such beauty soon became symbols of power and the rich tried their best to lay their hands on some to display them in their gardens. When more people learned of the prices that the rich were willing to pay for tulips, they knew they just found a “get-rich-quick” gold mine.
By 1634
, the whole country was so attracted by tulips that all other activities almost came to a stop. People were trading in tulips and even buying and selling bulbs (球茎). At that time, one rare bulb cost as much as ten tons of cheese.
Many made a fortune in the beginning. As the prices moved in one direction, they only needed to buy low and sell high, buy high and sell higher. After the gains, confidence rose and many sold aw
ay all their property in order to invest more money in tulips, hoping to make more money. The desire was so strong that those who were watching also rushed to the tulip market. Everyone thought that the high demand for tulips would continue forever and prices could only go up because more and more people from all over the world would start to like tulips.
When the prices of tulips was much higher than it should be, few people bought them for planting in their gardens. The real demand for the flowers seemed greater than it really was. Many people were buying them for speculation (投机), not appreciation. In 1637, for some unknown reasons, a group of people suddenly realized the danger. The prices of tulips began to fall and the market crashed. When confidence was destroyed, it could not be recovered and prices kept falling. Soon the nobles and the rich became poor. Cries of suffering were heard everywhere in Holland. Why did the upper classes buy tulips in the beginning?
| A．Because the prices of tulips were low. |
| B．Because they wanted to make a fortune. |
| C．Because tulips were introduced from abroad. |
| D．Because tulips were beautiful and represented power. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．greed(贪婪) was the reason why so many people were mad about tulips |
| B．tulips became popular among the upper classes very slowly |
| C．people who were mad about tulips bought them for appreciation |
| D．when the prices were extremely high, most people planted tulips in their gardens |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．Europe in the 17th century | B．buying and selling tulips |
| C．being mad about tulips | D．the life of the nobles and the rich |
How to learn a Foreign Language
1)Spend the time!
By far the most important factor is how much time you are immersed in the language. The more time you spend with the language, the faster you will learn. This means listening, reading, writing, speaking, and studying words and phrases. This means spending time enjoyably connected to the language you are learning.
2)Listen and read every day!
Listen wherever you are on your MP3 player. Read what you are listening to. Listen to and read things that you like, things that you can mostly understand, or even partly understand. If you keep listening and reading you will get used to the language. One hour of listening or reading is more effective than many hours of class time.
3)
Build up your vocabulary. You’ll need lots. Start to notice words and how they come together as phrases. Learn these words and phrases through your listening and reading. Read online, using online dictionaries, and make your own vocabulary lists for review. Soon you will run into your new words and phrases elsewhere. Gradually you will be able to use them.
4) Take responsibility for your own learning!
If you do want to learn the language, take control. Choose content of interest that you want to listen to and read. Seek out the words and phrases that you need to understand your listening and reading. Do not wait for someone else to show you the language, nor to tell you what to do. Discover the language by yourself, like a child growing up. Talk when you feel like it. Write when you feel like it. A teacher cannot teach you to become fluent, but you can learn to become fluent if you want to.
5) Relax and enjoy yourself!
Do not worry about what you cannot remember, or cannot yet understand, or cannot yet say. It does not matter. You are learning and improving. The language will gradually become clearer in your brain, but this will happen on a schedule that you cannot control. So sit back and enjoy. Just make sure you spend enough time with the language. That is the greatest guarantee of success.What should we avoid while reading or listening?
| A．Things we half understand. |
| B．Things we generally understand. |
| C．Things that we are fond of. |
| D．Things that we don’t understand. |
What’s the best title of Part 3?
| A．Focus on pronunciation and tune! |
| B．Focus on words and phrases! |
| C．Focus on grammar and idioms! |
| D．Focus on online classes and courses! |
What plays the most important part in learning a foreign language?
| A．Keeping the learning schedule strictly. |
| B．Our attitudes towards learning the language. |
| C．Making sure of enough learning time. |
| D．Our interest in learning the language. |
Johnny Appleseed was the name given to John Chapman. He planted large numbers of apple trees in what was the American wilderness two hundred years ago. Chapman grew trees and supplied apple seeds to settlers in the middle western Great Lakes area. Two centuries later, some of those trees still produce fruit.
Chapman planted with thoughts about future markets for his crops. His trees often grew in land near settlements. He often sold his apple seeds to settlers. Sometimes, he gave away trees to needy settlers.
Johnny Appleseed looked like someone who was poor and had no home. Yet he was a successful businessman. He used his money to improve his apple business and help other people. He was famous for his gentleness and bravery. Both settlers and native Americans liked him. Everywhere he traveled, he was welcomed.
During his travels, some families asked Johnny to join them for a meal. He would never sit down until he was sure that their children had enough to eat. He believed that it was wrong to kill and eat any creature for food. He believed that the soil produced everything necessary for humans.
Another time, he was trapped in the wilderness during a severe snowstorm. He found shelter in an old tree that had fallen to the ground. In the tree, he discovered a mother bear and her cubs. He did not interfere with the animals, and left before they knew he was there.
It is estimated that, during his lifetime, he planted enough trees to cover an area of about two hundred sixty thousand square kilometers. Over time, some adults said they remembered receiving presents from Johnny Appleseed when they were children.
In 1845, John Chapman became sick and developed pneumonia during a visit to Fort Wayne. He died in the home of a friend, William Worth. Chapman was seventy years old. He was buried near Fort Wayne. The marker(碑文)over his burial place reads, “ ”
For what purpose did Chapman plant the apple trees?
| A．To sell apples as a business. |
| B．To provide food for settlers. |
| C．To take up land for himself. |
| D．To show how to grow trees. |
【改编】What was John Chapman famous for ?
| A．Selling apple seeds. |
| B．Gentleness and bravery. |
| C．Travelling and exploring. |
| D．Offering help to people in trouble. |
How was Chapman’s money used according to the text?
| A．Given to other people. |
| B．Spent developing other business. |
| C．Devoted to improving apple business. |
| D．Used on his career and helping others. |
Which can be the proper marker in the blank?
| A．He lived for the poor. | B．He lived for animals. |
| C．He lived for his business. | D．He lived for others. |
Once, the Paiter-Surui tribe(部落)lived a happy life in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. But after the tribe’s first meeting with Westerners several decades ago, they were nearly wiped out; diseases brought by outsiders reduced the Surui’s numbers from 5, 000 to about 250.
Today, some 1, 300 tribe people live in 23 villages across 600, 000 acres. Though they are as likely to wear T-shirts and jeans as feathered headdresses, the Surui are determined to preserve and protect the tribal culture of their homeland. Now they are under threat again, from illegal logging and deforestation(滥伐), but this time it’s different. The Surui have put aside their bows and arrows and taken up a new weapon: the Internet.
The tribe people learned to use the Web from their leader, Chief Almir Narayamoga. “We decided to use computers and technology to bring attention to our situation, ”says Narayamoga, 36. The first in his tribe to attend college, Chief Narayamoga learned how to use computers at the Federal University of Goiás in Goiânia, a city of 1. 2 million. In 2007, he fled the Surui homeland after his fight against loggers who placed a $100, 000 reward on his head. He traveled to the United States and paid a visit to Google headquarters in California. He came armed with a big idea.
Narayamoga’s visit to Google was considered a great success. And Google sent teams to the Amazon to train the Surui in using computers, cameras, and smart phones to photograph logging sites, which could be pinpointed using GPS technology and then uploaded to Google Earth. The Surui have now mapped the entire reserve and recorded the biodiversity and the rainforest within it.【改编】Why are the Surui under threat again ?
| A．The population were reduced greatly by diseases from outsiders. |
| B．They want to preserve and protect their tribal culture. |
| C．The rainforest where they are living are suffering from wildly illegal logging and deforestation. |
| D．Chief Narayamoga fled the Surui homeland. |
Chief Narayamoga fled his homeland because .
| A．he owed a large debt |
| B．the loggers wanted to kill him |
| C．he wanted to learn computers |
| D．he failed to fight against logging |
What kind of idea did Chief Narayamoga have after he returned to his homeland?
| A．He could ask the US government for help. |
| B．He could negotiate with the loggers. |
| C．He could save their land with the Internet. |
| D．He could make a map of their land. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Deforestation has been stopped in Amazon. |
| B．Narayamoga’s efforts are paying off. |
| C．The Internet is still something new to the tribe people. |
| D．Logging has been stopped due to the use of GPS technology. |
My parents were in a huge argument, and I was really upset about it. I didn’t know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend’s house. Though I knew I wouldn’t tell her about my parents’ situation, I was looking forward to getting out of the house. I was in the middle of packing up my things when suddenly the power went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on.
I was really disappointed because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I’d stay with him until the power was restored. He was quite happy and said, “Great opportunity.”
“What is?” I asked.
“To talk, you and I,” he said. “To hold a private little meeting about what we’re going to do with your mom and dad, and what we’re going to do with ourselves now that we’re in the situation we are in.”
“But we can’t do anything about it, Grandpa,” I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same “boat” as I was
And that’s how the most unbelievable friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting there in the dark, we talked about our feeling and fears of life---from how fast things change, to how they sometimes don’t change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talked about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be.
Suddenly, the lights all came back on. “Well,” he said, “ I guess that means you’ll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!”I wished to get out of the house because ________.
| A．I was angry about my parents’ quarrel |
| B．I found nobody to share my feelings with |
| C．I wanted to escape from the dark house |
| D．I planned to tell my friend about my trouble |
Grandpa was happy to see me because___________.
| A．he could discuss the problem with me |
| B．he had not seem me for a long time |
| C．he was afraid of darkness |
| D．he felt quite lonely |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The grandchild was eager to leave. |
| B．They would have more chats. |
| C．The lights would go our again. |
| D．It would no longer be dark. |
The National Gallery
Description:
①The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples. European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. ②The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance
Layout:
The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th-to15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.
The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titan and Veronese.
The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.
The East Wing houses 18th- to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.
Opening Hours:
The Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm（Fridays 10am to 9pm）and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.
Getting There:
Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk), Leicester Square (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).In which century’s collection can you see religious paintings?
| A．The 13th. |
| B．The 17th. |
| C．The 18th. |
| D．The 20th. |
Where are Leonardo da Vinci’s works shown?
| A．In the East Wing. |
| B．In the main West Wing. |
| C．In the Sainsbury Wing. |
| D．In the North Wing. |
Which underground station is closest to the National Gallery?
| A．Piccadilly Circus. |
| B．Leicester Square. |
| C．Embankment. |
| D．Charing Cross. |