.
Once upon a time, there was a seed and because he was only a seed, nobody cared to notice him. Thus, feeling kind of inferior, the seed gave no importance to his existence.
Then one day, a wind picked him up and threw him on an open field under the hot sun. He wanted to know why. But instead of any answer, he was provided with rain besides sunlight, sometimes small and sometimes heavy.
Time flew and years later he saw a traveler sitting by his side. "Thank God for this. I really need some rest," he heard the traveler say.
"What are you talking about?" the seed soon asked. He thought the man was making fun of him. Sure, he had seen many people sitting by his side but no one ever spoke to him like that.
"Who's this?" the man was surprised.
'It's me. The seed."
"The seed?" the man looked at the big tree. "Are you kidding me? you're no seed. You're a big tree?
"Really?"
"Yes! Why do you think people come here? To feel your shade!"
A moment passed before the traveler's words touched the chord (心弦) in him. The seed, now a great tree, smiled for the first time in his life. Years of sufferings from the sun and the rain finally made sense to him.
"Oh! That means I'm not a small seed anymore! I didn't die unnoticed but was born to help people with tiredness. Wow! Now that's a life worth a thousand gems (宝石)!"
60. What does the underlined word "inferior" (in Paragraph 1) probably mean?
A. Not funny. B. Not weak. C. Not good. D. Not interesting.
61. The seed thought the man sitting by his side was laughing at him because _______.
A. the man didn't think the seed was important
B. the seed never thought he could be noticed
C. the man was talking about God with him
D. the man really wanted some rest near him
62. When the seed first heard that he had been a big tree, he felt _______.
A. disappointed B. excited C. doubtful D. satisfied
63. The passage mainly tells us that ________.
A. every life is of some value B. one's existence is in need of a finder
C. life goes on no matter what happens D. failure is the mother of success
C
If you have to miss a meal a day, which meal will cause you fewest health problems if you don’t eat it? If you have to make a decision of this type, most people (especially very busy people) will choose to skip breakfast.
However, many experts in the field of health consider breakfast ( the meal which “break” you “fast” ) to be the most important meal of the day. If we eat a good breakfast, they say, we will have the energy and nutrients (营养) we need to begin our working day with vigor(活力) and stay hopeful with good honor. However, many people skip breakfast or substitute a cup of coffee for a well balanced meal. What happens if we ignore the importance of breakfast?
One recent study conducted in the United States tested a large number of people. Participants(参加者) included both males and females who ranged in age from 12 to 83. The results showed that if a person eats an adequate(丰富的) breakfast, he or she will work more efficiently(效率高地) and more productively than if he or she skips breakfast or eats a very poor breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person’s work involves mental(脑力的) activities. The study showed that if school-children eat fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, they will learn more quickly and will be able to concentrate on their lessons for a longer period of time than if their breakfast is inadequate(不丰富).
The study also showed that contrary to what people believe, if you skip breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry if they skip breakfast that they eat too much for lunch and end up gaining weight instead of losing. So remember, if you want to lose weight, skipping breakfast will not help you. You will likely lose more weight if you decrease your other meals. According to experts, breakfast is the most important meal of the day because _____.
| A．a good breakfast breaks you down fast |
| B．you’ll lose weight quickly if you skip breakfast |
| C．breakfast provides what a person needs to work |
| D．after a long night, you’ll feel very hungry |
The underlined part “substitute a cup of coffee for a well balanced meal”(Para. 2) probably means _______.
| A．to exchange a cup of coffee for a well balanced meal. |
| B．To drink a cup of coffee instead of a well balanced meal. |
| C．To change a cup of coffee into a well balanced meal. |
| D．To regard a cup of coffee as a well balanced meal. |
The example of school-children in para.3 shows that _______.
| A．school-children will be quick and attentive all day if they eat breakfast |
| B．a proper breakfast will make mental workers more efficient |
| C．fruit, eggs, bread and milk are the best breakfast for mental workers |
| D．school-children who have breakfast are much brighter than those who don’t |
Which of the following is NOT true according to Para. 4?
| A．Some people skip breakfast because they want to be slimmer. |
| B．Most people who skip breakfast actually eat more for lunch. |
| C．People put on weight because they eat too much breakfast. |
| D．Skipping breakfast won’t help people who want to lose weight. |
The best title of the passage is _______.
| A．How to Lose Weight | B．What’s a Healthy Diet |
| C．Surprising Results of a Study | D．Breakfast – A Meal That Breaks You Fast |
B
I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to sit above the top of it. Mother sat writing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be a most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth.”
I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed in action. But as a young girl. I wanted to have heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional (易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface (表面)”.
As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace – it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.
But the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside – a photo of my father and a one-paper letter, folded and refolded many times. It was my letter.
“In any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.”The writer began to love her mother’s desk________.
| A．after Mother died | B．after she wrote the letter |
| C．when she was a child | D．when Mother gave it to her |
The passage shows that_________.
| A．Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter |
| B．Mother was too serious about her daughter in words |
| C．Mother wrote to her daughter in careful words |
| D．Mother wrote to her daughter in careless words |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The author may work as a writer |
| B．The author and her mother love each other, but didn’t say it out |
| C．Neither the author nor her mother had a happy family. |
| D．The author’s mother is a person who prefers act to words. |
What did Mother do with her daughter’s letter asking for forgiveness?
| A．She had never received the letter. |
| B．For years, she often talked about the letter. |
| C．She didn’t forgive her daughter at all in all her life. |
| D．She read the letter again and again till she died. |
What’s best title of the passage?
| A．My letter to Mother | B．Mother and children |
| C．My Mother’s Desk | D．Talks between Mother and me |
I worked hard for a whole week. So I decided to relax and went out of town with my son for the 1 . When we were walking on the street, we felt a little 2 . So we found a café and 3 to have lunch there. After we sat down at our table, I 4 an elderly couple having lunch at a table across the room. I must have looked over at them a few times because my son asked me if I 5 them. I shook my head and said no. But I told him that they 6 me of my own grandparents.
When the waitress came over, I asked her if she knew them. She said she did. She said it was the elderly man’s birthday today. On hearing this, I wanted to do something for them, so I told the 7 that I wanted to buy them the lunch and gave her the money.
Some time later, the elderly couple came over to 8 us. They were so excited that someone had bought them lunch. It was really a big 9 for them. They said that they had been a little 10 because their own son and daughter seemed to have 11 the old man’s birthday. But they were really cheered up by my 12 .
My son was surprised that I had paid for this couple who we didn’t know. He asked me why I did it. I smiled at him and replied that my grandparents used to go out for lunch to celebrate their birthdays in the same way and it just felt like the 13 thing to do to make this couple smile, 14 on their birthdays. Hearing my 15 , my son smiled.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you lose your wallet, how often do you think someone will be kind enough to return it to you, with cash and credit cards?
Some people may be greedy, and others are simply too lazy to bother(打搅) with the trip to the post office to send back a wallet to a stranger. But according to a psychology study by Dr. Richard Wiseman, there’s one thing that’ll greatly increase your odds of being reunited with a lost wallet: a photograph of a cute baby.
In the study, hundreds of wallets were scattered(分散) around the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. The psychologists wanted to see how many strangers would take the trouble to return them to the addresses listed on the drivers’ licenses inside—but more than that, they wanted to find out what would make a person more likely to help out a stranger.
To finish this, they included personal things in most of the wallets: some included a photo of a happy elderly couple, some contained a cute puppy, some contained a family portrait, and some held a photo of a lovely baby. Others had receipts(发票) showing that the wallet’s owner had recently donated to a charity（慈善）. Some contained no personal details.
As the psychologists soon discovered, the sight of a smiling baby is enough to warm nearly any heart: only one in ten of the strangers who retrieved such wallets did not return them. In contrast, the second most successful image, the puppy, had a 53% return rate. When the wallet included no photograph, it stood only a one in seven chance of being returned to the owner.
The success of the baby photograph shows a human compassion(同情) for the young that’s been passed down through the ages, according to Dr. Wiseman. “The baby kicked off a caring feeling in people, which is not surprising from an evolutionary perspective(进化的角度),” he told the Times.
To ensure our species’ survival, scientists think that we must feel empathy and compassion for our young. Scientists say that this study supports the argument that we won’t feel compassion only for our own babies, but for any that we see—hence, the strong desire a stranger would feel to return a wallet to the baby’s parent.
On a more basic level, the study also provides a great tip to help ensure that if your wallet is ever lost, you’re more likely to get it back. “If you want to increase the chances of your wallet being returned if lost, gain a photograph of the cutest baby you can find and ensure that it is clearly displayed,” said Dr. Wiseman.The main purpose of the psychologists’ leaving hundreds of wallets around was to find out________.
| A．whether people were as honest as before |
| B．what made people willing to help strangers |
| C．what kind of feelings could be caused by a smiling baby |
| D．how evolution influenced human beings |
The underlined word “retrieved” in Para. 5 probably means “________”.
| A．picked up | B．spread out | C．found out | D．looked for |
Why did people return a wallet with a photograph of a cute baby in it?
| A．Because the wallet was not attractive enough to keep. |
| B．Because the sight of a baby could cause a caring feeling in them. |
| C．Because they were curious to know the parents of the baby |
| D．Because the sight of a cute baby reminded them of their own children. |
If there are 30 lost wallets with a photograph of a cute baby, how many of them will probably be returned?
| A．Only 3. | B．About 15. | C．20 or so. | D．About 27. |
We can learn from the last two paragraphs that________.
| A．humans usually have compassion for the young |
| B．the caring feeling in people is gone during evolution |
| C．scientists believed that people only feel compassion for their own babies |
| D．a wallet with a cute baby’s picture in it cannot be lost |
Letters to the next president
Dear Mr. President:
I would like to personally thank you for your time and concern for our great country. I would like to take a few minutes to address a few concerns that I have with the United States.
First of all, I would like to address the war. In my opinion, we should have never been involved with Iraq to the extent that we are now. I believe we should pull our troops out. However, I think there should be a time table that we follow but the time table should not be released（发布） because the enemy does not need to know when we are going to pull out. Also, the war takes out a ton of our money, which leads me to my next issue.
The economy right now, in the opinion of many Americans is the biggest issue with which we are facing right now. No one can predict what will happen one day or the next. The obvious thing to do is to put 700 billion dollars in the economy, but that bill failed and was rejected by the House of Representatives(众议院). Instead of putting 700 billion dollars in, I think the money should be equally distributed among Americans to pay off their debts. I'm not sure if this would work, but I think it is a positive alternative(替代) we could take.
My final issue I would like to call to your attention is teacher's salaries. The high school students of today are America's future. In a way, America's future depends greatly on the high school teachers of America. Saying this, it is sad that teacher's salaries are where they are. While teachers are working harder and harder every day to teach high school students, CEO's of big companies that are driving our countries economy into the ground are getting bonuses. I'm not saying that teacher's salaries should be the same of CEO's of companies, but I do strongly believe that action should be taken to increase the salaries of teachers because they have one of the most important jobs in America - - preparing our country for the future.
Once again, thank you for your time and your effort you put in to making this great country a better place.
Sincerely, WalkerWhat's the author's attitude towards the Iraq War?
| A．Supportive | B．Objective(客观的) | C．Negative | D．Positive |
What's true about the time of pulling the troops out?
| A．We should pull the troops out without delay. |
| B．There is no need to have a time table to follow. |
| C．The public has the fight to know the time table. |
| D．We should keep the time secret from the enemy. |
According to the author, the 700 billion dollars__________
| A．is the biggest issue with which we are facing right now. |
| B．has been accepted by the House of Representatives. |
| C．should be equally shared among Americans |
| D．should be put in the economy |
When talking about high school teachers, the author thinks that____________
| A．the teachers' salaries are not high enough. |
| B．teacher's salaries should be as high as CEO's. |
| C．the teachers work harder than CEO's of companies. |
| D．teaching is more important than any other job in America |
Which of the topics is NOT included in the letter?
| A．Election | B．International affair | C．Finance | D．Education, |